A Little Spurt of Creativity

If you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram, then you must have seen a few of my posts over the last couple of days. I've been posting pictures of easy wire wrapping jewelry and last night I designed a shirt. This morning I'll be finishing a snake-print jacket that I started a while back (1 year) for a gal at work. I won't fit me and I cheated when I sewed the pieces together so I am unable to alter it without ruining it. 

All this flow of creativity will probably come to a halt when I go back to work. I finally broke free from the grind mid last week and that's when the creativity started. Actually, one of G's friends texted her on Thursday asking her to see if I could alter her cheer leading skirt because someone already tried and messed it up. She needed it for their first pep-rally on Friday. I was nervous to touch it because I knew it had to be done right but I told her I would take look. This is when the creativity started to flow.

When she brought it that night, I ended up having to take all the first-attempt stitches out because she was right, someone really did a botched job on it. There was one catch to the alteration, it was a rental and we couldn't cut the fabric. This was actually a relief because no matter what I did at this point we would have that as a handicap. Therefore, the expectation of quality was low. I took the skirt "in" on each side about a half inch and curved the seam so that the skirt would "hug". Then instead of trying to hem the skirt to make it shorter, I encouraged her to fold the top band down since her cheer shirt would cover the top 2 inches of skirt. 

She tried the skirt on once I had all the initial stitches in and said, "I actually LOVE IT". First of all, teenage girls are dramatic, but it did look good. I told her mom that G could bring the skirt to school tomorrow so that I could finish up the make-shift seams inside. I wanted to secure all the fabric that we took in now that we had the fit right. They insisted that it was finished and that they imposed on our family enough. I hadn't even thought of this. I was just doing what I love to do! She handed me $25 and thanked me immensely especially since it was such short notice. 

The next day, I made sale number two. I posted a pic of a quick wire wrap ring that I threw together on Facebook and a girlfriend of mine claimed it. She also asked me for another. I met her for lunch on Friday and made the sale. One problem was lunch cost $34 with E and G. I was upside down in the sale but it didn't matter. I actually sold some goods. 

While she and I chatted during lunch I told her that my dream is to open a studio. I do not want to have a store to sell what I make because then the pressure to create would be too great and I wouldn't keep up with it. I want to have a comfy area in my studio for crochet/knitting. Another area for sewing and serging and then yet another for jewelry making. I've contemplated painting and pottery but I think to start the above will suffice. My girlfriend expressed an interest in operating a children's craft-time throughout the week. This gave me another idea. I could "rent out" the studio for a minimal cost to others who want to teach their craft. They could collect on the actual cost of the activity and we all get paid to do what we love. I'm thinking during the day, I could open the studio for walk-ins and members to casually craft and chill. They could use the equipment supplied by the studio and also buy knick-knacks. I can sell a few of my things and other local artists items. Then in the evening, I will host parties/classes. That way the studio can generate income and be used 24-7. 

I'll be looking for space for lease today while I day dream about my studio and finish the jacket I started a year ago. Then it's back to work tomorrow. 

The Barn

I spontaneously decided to go out with friends last night to a joint called "The Barn". A real classy place. I arrived a bit earlier than my friends and apparently this is too early according to most "Barners". There were people there having a dancing class. 2 step to be more precise. This was cool to watch. I envy those that have confidence to dance with strangers in a group setting.

Anyway, 20 min. of this and I see 2 of my friends at the bar. One of them was celebrating her Birthday so she was planning for several people she knew, and I didn't know, to show up. I bought them each a beer and myself a club soda with lime (my fave). We spent a few minutes catching up until the dancing class was over and the clubs music started. A couple more friends arrived and things were good for a bit. An hour to be exact.

After about an hour, the Birthday girl starts with the shots. Everyone in her group is catching wind of this generous Birthday offer and proceeds to get her more shots. I was pretty sure things were about to get ugly.

Before they do, I would like to describe the atmosphere at the "Barn". You know, from my perspective...

Old, young, middle-aged (like me), married, single, really old and the crew. Country-western bars are fun because people will just start dancing where ever they are or RUN out to the dance floor to join the line. Now I don't dance. I do not have the confidence. I used to but I lost it somewhere.

Anyway, one dude, probably my age, was clearly a dancing fool.  I noticed he was in the dance class from earlier and was happily twirling around the dance floor with women 3 times his age. He was very tall and fit but he was not choosy when it came to asking a girl to dance once the club started jamming. All kinds of girls tall, short, heavy, thin, heels, sneakers, dresses, jeans, young, old, it didn't matter. It was hilarious to watch him lead the these women around the dance floor in a 2 step as they ALL clambered to just stay up on their feet. I thought the women in stilettos was truly going to break her ankle.

So after 30 mins of watching this he comes over to our table - points at me - and says, "Alright, you. Let's go." I was shocked. He was drill-sergeant demanding. I came to and politely said no thanks and he grabbed one of the other girls at our table.  LOL, that's never happened to me before.

One other sight I wanted to point out was the elderly. There were many 75+ers. They were there because they too were dancin' fools. Line dancing and two-steppin' away. A couple had obvious bad hips but they were working through it. Its only one night a week and you YOLO. I'd never seen anything like that before either. Two "firsts" seemed like a successful night.

Then there was my Birthday Girl. Starting to slur and bouncing around the table trying to entice her friends to mingle by re-introducing us and pointing out things we had in common. I was content the way things were but now we were at the two hour mark and things were going down and it was my time to bow out gracefully.

I had a good time and I'm glad I went but I love staying at home with my family soooo much better.

Planning MY Back-To-School

I'm searching the catalog at Seminole State College to find the one class I want to take first. I have an idea of what I'm looking for but I'll have to call the Admissions dept. to make sure my transcripts were received. It will also serve me well to talk to a counselor. At this point, I am not degree seeking. I'm interested in management and updating/fine-tuning technical skills. So I believe Credited Certificates are what I'm looking for to couple with my technical degree. 

In a nutshell, I really like working with clients the way an analyst does. This involves gathering business requirements, building relationships and setting expectations. I also like to be part of the project/resource management, technical writing, engineering (rolling up my sleeves and developing a quality product), delivery, and maintenance of software products. This is actually the cradle-to-grave process of software development which is what I've been doing for the last 3 1/2 years and coding for several years before that. But this is not enough, I want to be FABULOUS at in the areas already mentioned in addition to learning more about management. 

I'm currently managing 6 members of an IT team - 7 if you count me, and I'm kind of a "as long as you're busy then everything is OK" manager. I want to be able to give more direction in a timely manner. More hands-on and professional in delivery of direction. I need to be pro-active in identifying weak areas before the "S" hits the fan. And as everyone knows, this does happen. When it does, IT is not your friend. I need to know how to handle individual team members crisis', whether it be work related or personal. Unfortunately, I'm afraid some of these skills are only gained by experience.  For the ones that aren't, I'm going to study them.

Don't get me wrong, I will eventually earn a degree. ADHD afflicted persons have to set small goals, lots of them, and pick them off as quickly as possible or they will lose momentum. Hence the reason I MUST speak to a counselor to make sure the C.C. program is inline with courses needed to earn a degree. If I line up 2 or 3 of these programs then they should = 1 B.S. with my existing A.S credits. 

I realize now that I will be the student that "gets it" in the courses I plan to take. I remember back when I first started studying object oriented programming and I found it to be very abstract in concept. Others seemed to take to it like ducks to water and I was very concerned that I was never going to make it. Those students were already working in the field and looking to hone their skills. I'm not speculating on this. They said so. Now that student could be me. I'm hoping to learn but not struggle through courses. There's only 1 problem with this plan...

Finding time to craft.

Cutting Through a Table is Difficult

W came home yesterday and found a project in the driveway. When he came inside, he questioned me..."What were you doing?"
Me - "Nothing."
W - "Why did you cut your craft table in half?"
Me - "Okay." *big sigh* "I need an angled table to fit in the corner of the craft room."
W - "How did you do it? I mean, how did you think you would get the angles? Did you measure?"
Me - "Of course. I used the Pythagorean Theorem."
He shrugged, nodded his head in approval, then offered to bring the butchered pieces inside before the rain fell. I explained that my math was incorrect and that I tried to improvise with instincts. In addition to my rusty trig, the jigsaw's battery kept dying so I used a handsaw as well. I put the battery on the charger yesterday so I know it will be ready to go today in order to finish the project. I will still have to put the pieces together, sand and paint.

On another note, E wants to go to the park today. I told her to wait for the sun to come up, then we'll go. I suppose I'll have to plan something for this morning; outdoors. Maybe a splash pad or the Zoo. Oh the zoo sounds exhausting (remembering the Sea World incident of Day 1 Va-Ca).

We'll find something to do I'm sure. For now, I'll try to find some inspiration to create this morning. I have already read two inspiring blogs before sitting down to write. The only two I have listed under "Inspirations" on the right of this page. One of which was added this morning. If you know of any good blogs that get the juices going, then by all means, leave them in the comments of this blog. Thanks!

I'm trying to be a morning person

Actually I am already a morning person. I am trying to be an early morning person. G's new schedule involves get up at 6 for school. I thought I could be supportive of her if I were to get up too. She shouldn't be the only one up and moving around at that time. It wouldn't be fair. She's always been a prompt child. I also spotted a local women's fitness center yesterday that I thought would be cool to find out what programs are available. I'm not considerably active, although I like the idea of being active. I enjoy sports - watching - playing with the kids, swimming, walking, skating (roller) to name a few, but I do not do any of these things long enough to say it's exercise. I'm thinking I'm ready to turn a new leaf. You know, at my age, it is essential to stay healthy. I'm feeling like I need to get up earlier - who needs 8 full hours of rest anyway - do some movements to get the blood going, then blog. I'm NOT saying I'm planning a strict regimen, that's crazy. I'm just saying I'm willing to try a different routine. I'm NOT trying to lose weight either - in case you were worried. I'm trying to reverse the "programmers atrophy" (that's what I call it) and slim down my insides. You see, I'm a fat woman in a skinny body. I eat what ever I feel like eating and at anytime with zero regard to how much fat/cholesterol may be in it. Honestly, I don't eat much, surprised? I wait until lunch to have my first meal of the day. I've been occasionally having yogurt or cream of wheat for breakfast to change this behavior but it just speeds up my metabolism so that I'm REALLY hungry by 11:00 am and this is when I'm in a conference call or submerged in code that I cannot stop what I'm doing to eat or snack. I usually take a lunch sometime between 12 and 1 pm. WARNING: If I wait until 2 then it is really hard to reverse the effects of the drop in sugars. I'll feel gross and sluggish so I know my breaking point. I'll usually have a sandwich or salad for lunch and sometimes eat out with friends and then make a well rounded meal for dinner including carbs, proteins, vegetables and dairy. I'm writing all this because A) I'm confessing my unhealthy lifestyle and B) if you write it then it is a goal. I've been unsuccessful at this point to begin eating breakfast and exercising regularly. I've tried different approaches at being healthy, such as W's approach which is running at night, but this didn't work for me because I don't like running and I'm a morning person. I'm not one to give up so I think this new schedule is the natural course for me to take. I have been known to tune-in to the subconscious and ride the wave all the way in. I hear you subconscious! Loud and clear. My hypotheses is, if I am active in the morning then I will be hungry for breakfast. This could solve two of my age old internal battles. So 6 am it is. I owe it all to Back-To-School. Wow, I really get off schedule when school is out for summer.

The Beginning of Day 2 of Va-Ca

Coffee made.1 kid dropped off at school. Another is working on her hair-this is a major feat these days- and child #4 is content eating a granola bar in front of Disney Junior. I felt a push to get the blog going in order to be finished in time for an 8:45 Webex this morning regarding a workers comp renewal module. After that, the day is mine. Well except for the 3 baskets of laundry that need to be folded-haunting my peripheral. Aaaand there's that 3:30 appointment at the DMV for G to get her Learners License. I guess she'll be driving herself to school. We were contemplating getting the ding repaired on the van door but I think I'll wait if G is going to start driving.

Day 1 of Va-Ca

So this is day 1 of my week off from work and as most know E is at home with me this week. I worked on a Crystal Report this morning because I procrastinated all weekend and then I swept the whole house. Around 9:35 am, E says, "Can we go to Sea World?"

So we are wandering around Sea World by 10:50 am and having lunch in Antarctica at 11:45. We skipped the penguin exhibit again even though the wait time is down to 1 hour because that is still too long to stand in this HOT weather with a small child. Instead we headed over to a gift shop, hit the Shamu  Express, played a ball toss - won two stuffed octopus's, climbed up the side of a pirate ship in flip flops and cooled off in the splash pad by 1. It took another 20 min. to get to the parking lot and 10 minutes to find the car because I didn't bother to look at the isle number when we climbed out at 11:00. It took nearly 30 minutes to get off the interstate and arrived safely back at home by 2:00 pm. I am so hot and tired that this has not been a relaxing day at all. Carrying an almost 4 y/o around Sea World is hard work. Tomorrow I will not be taking any requests.