Time....

to do anything I want.

I finished my class last night, pulling a 95/100 on my final two tests. I got an A in the class, though it has not been posted to my transcript, my overall grade has been posted online.

So, I almost felt lost with so much time on my hands. Though I am coming around the bend from a cold this week, I actually didn't mind tromping around the wrecking yard with my husband, twice, to get a replacement mirror for my truck. Any other time, I would have been frantic to be wasting my precious minutes doing such a thing.

Long story short, we are now officially down two cars in this family in the past month. One was my son's car, which after five years of running around in it during high school and in Bellingham for college, gave up. He is now car-less and was hoping for the little Ford that my oldest daughter has been driving for the past four years. She purchased a Honda three weeks ago all on her own, paying for it with the money she has been saving this past year, purchased her own insurance, but didn't have a clue how to drive a stick-shift.

The Ford died last night in Tacoma and had to be towed home. The Ford is now resting in peace and will be sold off to someone that needs it for parts.

The chain-of-events has now left the son without hopes of getting the Ford to drive and the daughter learning super fast how to drive a manual. They both seem to be okay with the current happenings.

In the end, time does take care of things, right?

This afternoon I was able to spend some quality time on my Tailor of Gloucester Mouse needlepoint. The tailor is all done, now on to the bits of this and that before the background and the border. I'm not in a hurry at all for this project, but it is good to see some progress.

Time...it's a fickle thing, either going to fast, to slow, never enough, or way to much...in the end, does it really matter?

Books, Textbooks, and Training

I thought I would share what I will start reading tonight. I finish one book and start another. Most of the time I don't mention what I read as I know a couple of my friends would 'gasp' in horror. Maybe they are 'gasping' now, but they like me for other reasons than my genre of reading materials, right?

I have completed all five of my written assignments for my Management class. I need to take two more tests and then I am done. I plan to take those tests this weekend to wrap it all up. Too much going on during the workweek to try to sit down to several hours of quiet time.

Tonight I pulled out an ounce of the roving I plan to spin for Ravelymics. It only took me about a half hour to spin up the single, while listening to The Swell Season. I will ply it in a day or two to see how it comes out and if I need to change wheels or techniques. I am planning for a navajo-ply for this, but I may end up doing a 2 ply, for more yardage.

Off to scare my self silly with this book.

Strings...of a different kind.

A guitar!

I grew up with every musical instrument available to me from the band shop. One instrument I had was a guitar, but I sold it after high school.

Children came along, and of course, I have always crafted. No time for a guitar, hardly anytime for my piano.

But...as we get older, we sometimes decide how we want to really live our lives and what we do with it until the end of our days.

I decided to take up the guitar again.

I bought a used one on Friday, thanks to payday, for a very low price. Less than the cost of a trip to the yarn shop. Hard case included. Notice, if I compare it to yarn, I can justify the purchase.

A trip to the library for a good lesson book with dvd and some time on youtube.com and I am off and playing.

My fingers are sore, hopefully this will not be a problem for knitting.

I have practiced every night, even taking it out tonight as the family was watching the Grammy's.

No snickers were heard.

Choices....

For any knitters that would like to join our upcoming Sleeves Off and Buttons On KAL that is being based around voting for a pattern that will donate proceeds from the purchase to Help for Haiti, please do so.

The voting poll is now open and can be found on the left sidebar here!

This morning I spent working on the technical failure of my podcast software to mic configuration. A bit disappointing, but I'm sure I'll get it figured out.

I submitted my third of five written assignments for my class and discovered I pulled yet another 100 on it. Three for three. Yeah! I have been studying for the test on and off and need to get that done today as well.

The reading is not so exciting and makes it hard to keep my attention to it...so I wander around doing bits of chores in between reading sections. I prefer the hands-on-research of the topic and writing.

For a few weeks I have been debating if I should take the class I signed up for during Spring quarter, "Wellness." It is another online class and I could live without it...I just needed to make up my mind on what was more important during that time.

What could be more important? Gardening, my podcast, visitors coming from afar...knitting.

So, not to chicken out, I jumped online and canceled my registration. Now if I wanted to take the class, I would have to go onto the waiting list...and someone was just waiting for me to bail.

Now back to reading.

He says - She says

He: What are you doing?
She: Homework.

He: That is how you are going to spend your Friday night?
She: Yes.
He: Okay then.
She: Yep.
He: I'm going to the neighbors, see ya.
She: Uh-huh.

It's now 9:15 p.m. I just turned in my written assignment, now I can go be crafty...ALL by myself.

Navaho plying to some "swell" music!

Tonight, I listened to some of this....




while I did some of this....




Sometimes it's just good to put away the textbooks, bills, or anything else that weighs heavy on the mind....

Sewing of two centuries

I can now post pictures of the bit of sewing I was doing this past week. I gifted Michelle her birthday present yesterday at our bi-weekly knitting meet-up.

I found a great 1920's apron pattern, than could be finished with bias binding or made into a double-sided apron.

I went with the double-sided idea...on one side (side A) you get the feel of the early 1900's. On the flip side (side B) you get the current 2000's with an Amy Butler fabric.

All but the neck opening was done on my sewing machine, otherwise I would not have made my deadline. I did hand-baste and then hand sew in the bias binding for the neck opening.

I made two of these, one was for myself and the other for Michelle.

As I told Mary yesterday, I may be making this lovely apron for the birthday of my friends this year.

This is side A for both of the aprons I made.

This is side B for the apron I made for Michelle.

This is side B for my apron.

A project bag I totally made by hand-sewing, lined too. I made the bag off of one I had seen at the last knitting meet-up that Loraine had.

Though hand-sewing is slow and tedious, there is almost 100% control on the finished item.

Class notes: I turned in my second written assignment for my Management class I am taking through Pierce College. Actually, I turned it in late last night and found that the Prof had already read and graded it this afternoon. Another score of 100%. Yeah! I think this was a good class for me to sign up for.