a long week

One of the downsides to my super awesome job (feel free to want to set me on fire after I finish this sentence) is that when I work several full days in a row it feels like the longest week of my life.

This week has felt extra long. Of course, that is not to say that I didn't enjoy my days with the kids, I really and truly did, but I just feel exhausted. Here's the kicker: I only worked 3 full days this week. (I should say that a full day for me is usally 9-10 hours instead of the usual 8.) Oh geez, as I write this I realize what a complainer I sound like.

I tend to get kind of whiny and emotional around the time change every year. I don't sleep well, I just feel lazy and un-motivated. It's not a good scene.

The point of all this complaining is this: when I get like this, it's good for me to sit down and think of all the things I have to be proud of or thankful for. So instead of 10 on Tuesday, here is 10 on Thursday.

1. I have an awesome job that means I get paid to play with some of the cutest kids you'll ever meet. It also means I work for people who are kind, generous and great parents who treat me very well. Lucky.

2. I am married to a sweet and hardworking man. He fills my life with laughter (especially when I really need it) supports me in all my endeavors and works his hiney off at school and his internship so he can get a job that will (later in life) support our family.



3. I have the cutest cats in the world! Seriously, at least a couple of times a week, Joel and I marvel at how good it is to have them in our lives. We both had pets throughout our childhood and had to wait 5 and 11 years respectively before getting our own pets, and we couldn't be happier. They are sweet little monkeys who follow us around the house and make us laugh constantly.



4. I live in a great house in a great city in a great country. We are heading into our third year in this house (amazing since I moved 8 times in the 5 years previous) and it feels like home. We may only rent but it makes such a difference to live in a place that I feel comfortable in, and that allows us to live a lifestyle that we love. It has enough space for me to have a dedicated sewing area and 3 extra rooms which we fill with guests and roommates. Also, despite the current silliness going on with the Canadian government (seriously, silly) I love being Canadian. I am happy to say I live in a country of such beauty and vast wilderness, where people from every culture and religion are accepted with open arms and I can live peacefully and safely.

5. I have great friends. I won't bore you with the names of all the people you don't know that I love but I count myself lucky to be friends with such a long list of truly high quality people. A special shout out to my long time dear special friend Krissy. Oh, and also, Candace-bo-bandace who I love spending Sundays with. You two make my heart happy.

6. This week I did some major sewing for once. What's up Doll Quilt Swap! I am so happy to have been chosen to participate, and while I was really stumped for quite some time, I am now finished except for binding. I spent many hours making tiny HST's and while they aren't quite perfect, I am really happy with the result. More on that later.



7. I was super productive in other ways this week too! I cleaned the WHOLE house on Monday. (A really amazing feat for me) and then made sure it was tidied up again on Wednesday. I made dinner TWICE this week which if you know me means that hell might possibly have frozen over. I did a ton of laundry and...yup, that's it. Haha, but seriously, that's a whole lot of domestic goddessness for me to accomplish in one week. And guess what?? I plan on continuing tomorrow!

8. I got back into reading this week! I guess technically I got back into it while in Mexico. I read Jodie Picoult's House Rules, which I do not recommend. I enjoyed it until the very end when I literally though "Really? I wasted over 500 pages just for that weak ending??" This is all beside the point. I started reading The Poisonwood Bible this past week and so far so good. I've had it for a while, but finally picked it up on the recommendation of the aforementioned Krissy. She says it is her favourite book in the entire world and so for her I am giving it a read. And Krissy I promise we will chat about it when I am done. Or maybe I will write you a letter?

9. I got some really positive feedback from one of my families this week. I talked with J's mom today when she got home and I have to say it feels good to know that I am liked and that I am doing a good job. I try to tell them, but I hope they know, I love my job and I love their J. It truly makes my life good to work with them and I look forward to lots more time spent with them.

10. I have a quiet night to myself tonight. Hubby is off playing poker with the boys tonight. Just me and the cats and our roommate having a quiet night to himself elsewhere in the house. This ia a pretty rare thing, and I don't usually look forward to it. Joel and I talk about this sometimes, how we feel like we spend much less time away from each other than many of the other married couples we know. Not that they spend too little, or we spend too much, it's just different. We are best friends and homebodies and love to spend evenings in, eating dinner together and maybe watching our current favourite tv show or working side by side on various projects. But tonight it's just me. I've got a stack of books from my trip to the library today, a cup of tea and a cup of chocolate milk, How I Met Your Mother is queued on the tv and I am in our warm on toasty bed. Life is good.



Wow, writing that out makes me feel good. Oh, and one more thing: as depressing as it was to have to switch back to waking up in the dark, since we are so far north, I have to tell you, we gain almost 4 minutes of daylight each day! Yes!

Thanks for reading through my very long list of ramblings. I'll get back to quilting and sewing related things in the next couple days once my DQS10 package is shipped off.

milestones

I'm sure that many of you can relate to this:

As a blogger, I put my work "out there" as a record for myself, but it feels nice to think that there might be other people reading and enjoying what I made and write about.

Recently, I added a bunch of my Flickr photos to different groups, and was surprised to see how much action those photos get now! I always find it interesting to see which photos people fave, because it's not always my favourite projects that people love.

The point being, it feels really good to know that the things I put so much love and work into are being appreciated. Call me an ego-maniac - I don't care!

It's also been neat to see the number of subscribers grow from my husband and friend Candace to 19 people now! I also discovered that Google Reader keeps track of the number of people who subscribe to my RSS feed, and that number is a whopping (at least whopping to me) 33! It's pretty cool to have officially surpassed 50 readers.

Another milestone I am going to reach soon is 100 posts. I thought about counting years instead of posts, but since I took such a huge hiatus while trying to figure out if I really wanted to blog, I won't. Including this post, and several scheduled posts that will be coming out in the next few weeks, I am up to 85.

All this to say, I think it's almost time for a giveaway! I think what I will do is schedule the giveaway for the 100th post. The reason I am announcing this now (15 posts ahead of time) is to get some input from my readers. What would you like to win?

Here are your options:
A buttercup bag
Children's apron(s)
A mini quilt/mug rug
Or something else (you name it!)

The most popular idea named in the comments will be what I give away. No comments means I choose, and well, it will just end up being whatever I feel like making at that moment. :)

So, PLEASE, if you don't normally comment, but you do read, let me know!

And now, because I want to add a picture, look at this cuteness:



More on the pile of fabric later.  It's (somewhat) quickly becoming a new quilt.

giveaway day

Just a heads up: I am excited to say I will be participating in the May Giveaway Day held at Sew Mama Sew.  Check back on Sunday evening or Monday morning for my post.  I'm not going to say what I'll be giving away, I'll just let you know I am in the Handmade Items and Supplies/Materials category.  Yay!  And because I can't post without a picture, how about this:



Poor little cone head.  She gets it off this weekend though so she won't be sad for long.

another vintage quilt

Yesterday, after I had finished photographing all the quilts from my great grandmother I tossed them in a pile on the couch rather than fold them like a responsible person. Cheddar discovered the comfy nest in minutes and laid claim to it. Both our cats Cheddar and Broccoli were spayed last week and thy have been moping and hiding in warm and cozy spots ever since. Poor girls. But they are finally getting back to their old selves and we couldn't be happier!

Anyways, I wanted a write about another past project today. It is a vintage quilt top purchased by my former boss at an antique store that I restored into a full quilt top for her son. I nannied H for a short 8 months but it was a wonderul 8 months spent with a handsome, smart, funny and sweet little boy. His mom Tully is an artist and has a never ending creative eye. She found this quilt top and knew it could be something special so be brought it to me for a little tlc.



Unfortunately there is no before shot, but the top was in pretty great shape to begin with. One or two minor rips to be fixed and then a back and some binding. Before I had taken a closer look I knew this was going to be a tied quilt. The wavy pattern of handstitxhed patches and the satin stitch over top dictated that. Tully said she wanted the back to be mostly red to complimnt all the red stitching on top. So after a trip to my local quilt store I found a solid red and two coordinating stripes to make a pieced back and a binding. I also grabbed some red yarn for tying.



Overall the quilt went together really quickly and I was very happy with the result. It was also the first time I added a piece of random fabric into the binding and I love the effect!



in the end there weren't any sewing related lessons to be learned. I did however learn how hard it is to pour into a childs life only to have to say goodbye. I will continue to miss H but I know that this quilt now lived in his new big boy room and that makes me happy.