Wow - long time, no post! Things have been busy round these parts, what with another science fair project, family gatherings, the start of soccer, and yes - some job interviews! I had sent out a resume at the last second for a job teaching 5th grade math at a really swanky middle school, and lo and behold, they called! I've now completed my 2nd interview with them, and I guess it was a success, because they want me to come in to teach a demo lesson. Sadly, the words "demo lesson" strike fear into my heart, as I've never done one (I've always gotten my teaching jobs in the summer when there are no kids, hence no demos), so we'll see how it goes. There are some other interviews looming as well - who knew?
I was able to find the time to blog today, because we have once again run slap into "TV Free Week." Now, I don't like TV Free Week. We've done it every year since Miss Serious started Kindergarten, and seem to be the only parents around who actually participate. I figure if we're going to make the kids shut off the TV, it's only fair that we do, too. And, since the whole point seems to be to illustrate how much time we're actually sitting planted in front of the little box with the pretty pictures, it makes sense that we partake. Especially since I'm one of those people who is in serious denial, and keep thinking to myself, "What? I don't watch a lot of TV..."
So - I've read a couple of books, listened to some books on tape (David Sedaris' "Santaland" is really funny - I highly recommend it), but haven't gotten a lot of knitting done. I've come to the frightening conclusion that I may actually knit just so I have an excuse to watch television...
The blanket does continue to grow, so much so that I'm actually using it as a little throw on the couch while I'm knitting on it (TV-less - what could be sadder?), but I can't get my computer to acknowledge that I've connected my camera, so I've stuck in some already loaded pictures of cards. It's starting to do odder and odder things - I wonder if it misses TV too?
Of course, it's all relative, but compared to the week we had (I think it actually hit 90), a morning in the 40's is cold. Of course, because of the bizarre weather, my kids think they can wear shorts even though it hasn't cracked 45, and they were asking me when the local pool would be open. I tried to explain that as it is only the beginning of April, the pool will have to wait for a few months. My favorite part of this hot week was that I actually had to slap on pantyhose on the hottest day to toddle off to a job interview. One would think that in the first week of April I wouldn't have to sweat while wearing interview clothes, but one would be wrong.....
I did make some springy cards - I got some spiffy new paper from PTI (lovely company) with my hoarded birthday money, did some coloring and even slapped on a little glitter - because nothing says spring like a sparkly butterfly, right?
But then it decided to go back into its little hidey-hole - we had a whole pile of days in the 60's (I think it may even have hit 70) which were really lovely, but also make me a little irritated because I know it's only March and it's one giant tease. Yesterday we woke up to heavy fog - so much so that Big Trouble woke me up exclaiming that something was wrong outside. The only thing wrong in my book is that it's not summer, but whatever....
Now that all the birthday festivities are over (we jammed just about all of my family into my little living room this weekend - what good sports!) we've been getting back to our regular routines, such as they are. I made another pile of thank you notes for Miss Serious to send - she's pretty good about writing in them once she can bring herself to put down the latest book she's reading.
It does so pain my heart to have to tell my children to stop reading. However, if I didn't, my house would be covered in underwear which never seems to make it to the hamper (still don't know what that's about) and nobody's bed would ever be made (although I don't know if you can really call the half-hearted pulling up of comforters actually making the bed, especially with the myriad of lumps caused by various stuffed animals and discarded clothing....). Take what you can get, I guess.
Well, the week of school vacation is over. Big Trouble recovered from a stomach virus (he got all of the vomiting out of the way at Grandma & Grandpa's - sorry!), Miss Serious worked on her science fair project (yes, those letters are made with the Cricut - see how crucial it was that I purchase it...), we spent many hundreds of dollars at the vet because Tobie wasn't feeling well (doing much better now), The Professor took the kids to a program to view the constellations on a frigid evening (they enjoyed it), I made some cards, the kids played in the snow and went sledding (we borrowed friends' sleds - we tried to buy some at Target, but apparently it is impossible to buy anything winter related during winter. There was, however, a giant assortment of pool toys available...), I finished knitting a sock, and all in all we had a nice week.
Now vacation is over, and I need to start studying in earnest for my teacher tests. Yes, that's right, at the tender age of only hours away from 40 I will be sitting in a room on two separate occasions for 4 hours at a time with recent, fresh-faced college graduates, and taking tests for certification in CT.
Due to a combination of school vacation, snow all day, and Big Trouble recovering from a stomach virus, we stayed in and made some cards. Miss Serious and I decided to try out something called a waterfall card which I've seen floating around these here internets, and here is my version. I thought I'd include directions, in case anyone wants to play along at home.
The card is made up of 4 equal-sized images mounted on a long strip. For this card, I used:
Card base: 6 X 6 1/2 folded white cardstock
Layers for front: 6 X 3 1/4 black, 5 7/8 X 3 1/8 pink, 5 5/8 X 2 7/8 polka dots
4 1 7/8 X 1 7/8 white squares
4 2 X 2 black squares
9 X 2 pink strip
3 1/3 X 3/4 pink strip
I stamped my images on the white squares and embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored them in with Copic markers, and glued them onto the black squares.
The 9X2 pink strip gets scored at 2", 2 3/4", 3 1/2" and 4 1/4"; fold on the score lines to get clean folds.
After gluing all the layers onto the front of the card, I attached the 3/4" strip with brads on either side. It's important not to put adhesive on this strip. Line up the long pink strip, with the scored side on top. Place the unscored end under the strip secured with brads, and adhere only the edge closest to the score lines. Adhere this right to the bottom edge of the short strip.
Adhere the first stamped image onto the square at the edge of this strip; then, adhere the remaining stamped images, but only on the top edge, where the pink strip is scored. Repeat with the remaining images, then punch a hole and thread a ribbon on the bottom of the long strip. I stamped a greeting above the ribbon, so that when the strip is pulled, the greeting is revealed.
Many, many (many, many, many) years ago, while I was getting my Master's Degree, I worked as a cake decorator. It was a wonderful job - fast-paced, interesting, creative, and it gave me the instant gratification of seeing my accomplishments all laid out in the bakery case at the end of the day.
I had visions of starting a cake decorating business from home when my kids were little, but the health department had other ideas - no home-based food businesses allowed in my county. So now I decorate to amuse myself and my family; the kids want to do their own cakes these days, so I just color the frosting and hand over the pastry bags.
Like any creative endeavor, however, it requires a lot of stuff, which is sitting in my (very) small amount of storage space, and gets pulled out every once in a while when needed.
A few years back, I made this cake for my mom's birthday (clearly, her hobby is woodworking...); everything on it is edible, and to jazz it up, I purchased supplies like sparkly powder for the buttons.
Fast forward to this week, when I made a card with sunflowers. The centers looked a little dull, and I was hunting around for something to brighten them up - glitter was too shiny, and I couldn't think what else would work. And then, thrifty gal that I am, I remembered the sparkly cake powder - perfect!
And now, the sunflower centers are not only sparkly, but edible....
I've taken a break from subbing, because I decided that the whole waiting for an early morning call and then babysitting a classroom full of somebody else's kids for the day for less than what a babsysitter actually gets paid was taking a toll on me. So, with The Professor's urging, I blocked out two weeks and told the system not to call. Easy peasy, right?
Apparently not, because the phone rang early this morning when it was still dark (I had it in my had that it was 5:63....) and mechanically asked me if I wanted a job. When I checked the computer, today was still blocked out as a non-work day, so I have no idea what was going on. I must be so irresistible that the computer missed me....
I did bust out some cute stamps I got at Michael's - they have a new line (I think it's their own) called Recollections, and the stamps are both cute and cheap - thus meeting some of my more important purchasing criteria (of course, I also use my 40% off coupon, making them a whole lot cheaper....). Round these parts, people throw ginormous birthday parties for their children, involving inviting anyone their child has ever said hello to, so my kids go to a lot of birthday parties. I thought some little cards to stick on the packages would be good, so I put together these 4X4 cards, and I think they'll do the trick.
