I’m getting a little better with the beadwork, though I still have a ways to go. The beads I have are not uniform in size, so making a pattern work well is pretty much impossible. But I learned about the difference between threads and the kinds of tools to use, and these earrings hold up much better than the first pair I made. I want to make more!
Tag: craft
-
August 20
I ran 31 minutes today, which is the longest I’ve run since starting to run again. I didn’t want to. I even came all the way home before deciding to go back to the gym. I wanted to give up at least four times, including with two minutes left. But I did it. Could I do it again? Of course I could. Will I? That’s another question. My next long run is supposed to be four miles, which I think is hilarious because I haven’t even managed to run three miles. We’ll see. Any amount of running is a success. Today just showing up at all was a win. And that I did.
-
August 19
I made this bracelet tonight and it was beautiful, and about 15 seconds after I took this picture, all the beads fell onto the floor and now it is just string. Yay.
-
August 16
I had a productive day. Made the bed, cleaned the kitchen, went for a run, got coffee, picked up prescriptions, went to the library, went food shopping, made meatball subs for dinner, and taught myself bead threading. It’s tedious and time consuming, so right up my alley.
-
July 20
My first quilting. I’m not sure it’s finished, but I had fun making it. Robin and I went to Michael’s to get some crafting supplies and then went to Chili’s for lunch. It was nice getting to spend some time with her. I feel bad that she’s spent her whole summer sitting around in her room. I wish I could spend more time with her.
-
July 19
My latest knitting project. I wish it was just a little bit longer. The threads keep popping out too. The yarn is very smooth and isn’t holding knots. We’ll see how many times I get to wear this one before it falls apart. Christina had dance intensives today, all day, and then we had dinner with Colleen. I definitely need something to do. I am bored!
-
July 14
I actually made myself sick at work today, worrying about how to get everything done without dying. The truth is that I can’t get it all done, but I’m also struggling to decide what WON’T get done, and what to do about it. Part of that is inexperience and lack of insight into leadership priorities, but part is also that I am so inundated that I can’t actually think clearly about anything. I feel like this challenge was given to me as an opportunity to prove myself, and I’m failing, so add inadequate to the list of emotions I’m feeling. I’m tired. But I made this bag last night and now I have ideas for other projects, and the idea of making things is helping to keep me sane. And running. I am enjoying running. And cooking. And knitting and photography and writing and paddleboarding. Thank goodness I have time for these things too.
-
June 24
Robin made thirteen pillows today. While Robin was sewing, Christina and I went through the girls’ baby boxes. I unexpectedly found a note that Barbara wrote to Robin before she was born and I couldn’t keep back the tears. I’m so grateful to have had that memory with her tonight. I so wish I could see her again, and thank her. I so wish that Christina had any idea who Barbara actually is. I’ve tried to keep these memories alive for the girls, but they’ll never really know the beauty of these very real relationships. That is a whole loss in itself. I’m glad that at least I have those memories. It will have to be enough.
-
June 19
We went to make a new mug for Billy to replace the one Robin broke yesterday. Christina was NOT interested in helping, but she did finally add a few touches to it. Robin went to her first tumbling class at the new gym, taught by her old coach. He was great with her. I’m glad she has this.
-
June 8
Today was marginally more exciting than yesterday. I did go pick up the glass pieces from when I went glass blowing a few weeks ago. This is my duck. We also managed to schedule our adventure we had hoped to do yesterday. I’m super excited about it. I knitted a lot and did crossword puzzles (thanks to Sonal!), read a little, played Harry Potter, cooked dinner, did laundry. And another weekend is over.
-
May 27
Robin had her last tumbling practice at Brandon today. She was in a foul mood when we left the house, evidenced in part by her crying in the car when she couldn’t get her shoe on. A different person came home. She was drenched in sweat, smiling, and excited about doing layouts and a cartwheel back walkover quadruple back handspring. Or whatever it was. Christina had her tech rehearsal for this weekend’s recital. And I knitted a few rows of this sweater I started a week or so ago.
-
April 29
Tonight was my last NAMI class. I’m always glad I have the opportunity to do this. It’s incredibly fulfilling for me. But Tuesdays are my only free night and I have missed having that night off these last two months. After this weekend, in fact, cheer will also be done. I’m going to have so much free time that I’ll be completely lost. Then I’ll just have to keep working on this table runner or find yet another project to keep me busy.
-
April 25
We gave this self publishing kit to Christina for her 10th birthday. She loved the idea of it so much that she was afraid to use it in case she messed it up. She wrote a bunch of stories, but none of them seemed good enough to publish. In the end, she decided to use a series of stories she wrote a few years earlier: The Collections of My Friend Zombia. She literally spent more than a year transcribing the stories onto the provided pages and then illustrating them. She finally finished it about a month ago, long after I’d given up hope that it’d ever be finished. Somehow she’d managed to hold on to all the paperwork that went along with the kit and we managed to get it sent off. It arrived today and it is really the work of a true artist. I say that as the artist’s mother, knowing full well that I am biased, but I love it. It’s a story about a girl and her zombie friend, and another friend who can’t handle the idea of being friends with a zombie, so she blows herself up at the mall in front of both of them. And they live happily ever after. Well, some of them do.
-
April 17
I finished this sweater a few days ago, which I started sometime in 2023. There are so many things wrong with it, but through some miracle there are enough things right with it that I can wear it and it even looks presentable. And now I’m in the weird, uncomfortable position of having nothing to work on. I do have some machine sewing to do, but I can’t do that on a weeknight after everyone goes to bed. I’m sure I’ll come up with something.
-
April 3
It was nice to be home for a family dinner tonight. We got to hear how the girls saw a duck get hit by a car on the way home from school and learned the entire history of pizza, which Christina learned from her writing test today. You can never go wrong with dead ducks and pizza.
Year in Photos 