[Taken 27 March 2019]
During last week’s Spring Break trip to Jamaica, we spent an hour or so souvenir-shopping at the Shoppes at Rose Hall, where this stilt-walker was a popular paid photo-op for tourists. Luckily for me, my zoom lens let me snag this photo gratis from inside the coffee shop. 🙂
Rocking it old-school today with a general life data dump on the blog. It’s been a while.
Last night, the owner of the karate studio pulled Connor and me into his office and told us that he thinks Connor is ready for Black Belt Club — that is, he seems to be serious about karate and wants to continue to pursue higher belts and ranks.
Honestly, the main reason Connor wanted to join BBC was to get to play with a sword.
His first go at sword was last night, and he did great. Pretty soon, though, they’ll be learning a different weapon, so we won’t be buying him his own wooden sword anytime soon — he’ll just borrow a sword until the whole group gets their new weapons.
Black Belt Club is really an ingenious way to get families into a longer-term commitment — instead of signing up for a six-month commitment, it becomes a two-year commitment. It’s hard to imagine Connor in third grade, honestly; I hope we haven’t overcommitted.
When I think about it, though, I took ballet classes from age four to age eight, and it was really just a part of my life. I loved it and looked forward to it, and I know my family had to stretch their funds to be able to afford it. Ballet had lasting benefits for me, though, just as I hope karate will for Connor.
* * *
i’ve been staring at my first attempt at a t-shirt for a week or so. It’s been hanging on a hanger in my bedroom, where I can look at it and learn from the mistakes I made while sewing: attaching the neckband to an armhole, sewing the other armband on inside-out, stitching the actual neckband all funny and uneven.
Last night, I decided I would wear it to work today.
Honestly, you really can’t tell unless I point it out that the neckline (artfully hidden under my scarf) is way wavy, or that the hem is also exceptionally wavy. It’s not just a gardening shirt, after all — it’s totally wearable.
My next go-around with a knit tee will probably involve spray starch for the hems (and maybe the seams), and a longer and wider zig-zag stitch. I’ve got plans. I’m learning. I’m damn proud of myself.
* * *
When there were no supermarket flowers awaiting me on the kitchen table this morning alongside Connor’s chocolates, I kind of hoped that I’d be getting a delivery at work today.
As usual, I was not disappointed:
Can’t help lovin’ that man of mine.
* * *
To be frank, I’ve been in kind of a funk lately. I haven’t wanted to do any sewing this week, and I’ve been spending my evenings snacking and watching YouTube (my current obsession is The Origin of Everything by PBS).
Seeing the last couple of days laid out in front of me is starting to help me shake it off. I’m pretty stoked to try sewing up my next knit t-shirt, I’m excited for Connor to extend himself and push himself in karate class (no excuses!), and I feel mighty loved, despite also still feeling like I’m disappointing others left and right.
That’s the normal state of my brain, though; I’m used to it.
That feeling when you go out to use the last dozen exposures on your roll of film and you discover that it was actually a 24 exposure and not a 36.
One of my first goals for 2019 was to make a garment from a commercial pattern. For some reason, I was developing a mental block against actually digging into the stash of easy patterns I’ve purchased from Goodwill and garage sales. I’ve made clothes for my son from PDF patterns online, and I’ve drafted my own patterns (with guidance from Melly), but I hadn’t yet taken my scissors to the antique tissue paper that is ’80’s-era sewing patterns.
As I suspected, I really had nothing to fear.
[Taken 14 August 2018]
The week before First Grade started, Connor and I enjoyed a bit of a staycation. On Tuesday of that week, we made our very first trip to the Indian Creek Zoo in Lambertville, Michigan. It’s basically a very large petting zoo with some exotic animals like giraffes, monkeys, and zebras.
That morning, I loaded up my modified Holga 120N (which I affectionately call my Holgamod) with Ektar 100, since I hadn’t taken the Holga for a spin in a few years. This was the best photo of the roll — most frames turned out underexposed, since much of the zoo was in heavy shade.