Wow, I didn't realize it had been THAT long since I posted, but I've been busy. Work and school have kind of kept me busy. It's done, though, finally! I took the final for the second literacy class tonight, and I'm done! For now...

In order to get a state teaching certificate, I have two choices: non-traditional licensure, or a Master of Arts in teaching. If I go NTLP, I probably have to find a new job, because my school doesn't meet their accreditation standards. I found out today from a co-worker who's in the MAT program at UALR that if I go that route, what I thought would be an advantage is actually very much a drawback. It would cost significantly more money, significantly more interference with my life, since probably 3-4 nights a week, I'd get home at 9 or 10, not to mention homework. The major advantage (I thought) would be that I'd get to stay where I am, but I wouldn't, and in the semester I'd be interning, I wouldn't be paid. With NTLP, it's two 3-week summer sessions and 7 Saturday workshops, one a month from September to April. I know there's homework, but at least I'd have the evenings to do it. Plus, I'd be working full-time at a starting teacher's salary, and qualify for benefits. So now, I think I'm going to hold off on more school. Maybe in a few years, I'll decide I want to go to school and add a certification, be a counselor, or a reading specialist, or something.

So, crafty stuff, I'm almost finished with the February Lady Sweater. The body is finished, I'm working on the first sleeve. That took about 3 tries. and I'm still not sure I got it right. The biggest problem was that I was doing what you normally do knitting stockinette stitch in the round, I knitted the even rows. Well, that was twisting the yarn-overs in such a way that instead of making a hole, the yarn pulled across the hole filled the space, and you couldn't see them. So now I know, when knitting lace in stockinette stitch in the round, knit all the stitches on the even rows, but PURL the yarn-overs.

I've also started another quilt. It's for my grandfather for Christmas. It's very simple. There's this silly old song he used to sing all the time when I was little. The center of the quilt is a plain navy square, and I'm quilting the words on it in white thread. The border is big squares of several different fabrics. It's basically navy, tan, green, and a dark red. Lots of earth tones and, oddly, a couple of butterfly prints, but very naturalistic, not cutesy. I found this great fabric, it's a maroon with a pattern of white dots that looks like Japanese sashiko. I'm trying really hard to finish the center by hand, but, depending on how long it takes to do the middle, I'm quite likely to finish it on the machine. After the middle is done, the rest is going to be very simple quilting on the border, either quilting in the ditch, or an off-set grid, so I'm basically sewing through the middle of each square, but in the ditch would probably be better. Then, I just finish trimming the batting, roll the edge of the backing over the front, and sew it down. That, my knitting, and a new outfit for Candlelight Camp are the big projects I've got lined up. I have some wool flannel, and I want to make a slightly looser cotehardie to wear over a dark red kirtle. I cut out a dark green kirtle a few months ago, and I should probably finish sewing that one first. So, there you go.

Wow, I didn't realize it had been over a month since I posted anything.

The quilt is done! I delivered it Tuesday. I held it up for Hunter to see, and she hugged it. It was the cutest thing ever!

I'm working on knitting the February Lady Sweater. That's pretty much it. The coif pattern order was delayed by Pennsic, but I should be getting it soon.

I'm taking Lara's suggestion to make an embroidered Elizabethan jacket for my next project, but after reading the article about the Maidstone jacket on Extreme Costuming, I think I'm going to start with accessories. Yeah, 1,900 hours on one piece over a year and four months, which the maker admits consumed all of her spare time, except for the 2-week break her husband forced on her is not do-able by next year's Kingdom A&S. I just ordered two embroidered coif patterns from Reconstructing History. I figure I'll try the coif, maybe a little pouch, and then work up to the jacket. It would totally be a winter outfit, but a plain, lightly boned kirtle (like, oh, the Ren Fair Irish dress patterns?) with a jacket would be awesome.

Almost done with the quilt! I've finished all the quilting, I'm working on sewing up the edges now, and it's done! Yea! I will post pictures when all the sewing is finished.

I ran into the lady whose job I was originally supposed to take this year when we were out for dinner on Friday. She was very nice, she asked where I was now, and how I was doing. She is now teaching music at another school. I asked her what happened at the other school, and she said she didn't know, she was just as surprised as everyone else, and then she said, very firmly "but we're much happier where we are now." So, it looks like that job falling through was a good thing, after all.

So far, I like the new job. There are a few things I don't like, the slightly lower pay and slightly longer hours, but I feel good about it. I've come to realize that one of the most important things about a job is knowing that the boss has your back. Even if you don't like everything about it, even if they occasionally fall short, if they really try to work with you, it makes all the difference in the world. Thinking back on it, I really became disenchanted with my old job the week that my assistant had a nervous breakdown. It was the very end of the 2007/2008 school year, and my assistant at the time was having some kind of personal drama, and she fell apart. For most of that week, she didn't come to work, she only called in once, and the rumor was she was staying out to drown her sorrows. I can only imagine how mortified her children must have been over this crap. I had 18 kids in my class. My boss never got me a sub, didn't come to sub herself, just left me to deal. It wasn't just because it was the end of the year, either, this year, when the other teacher was out, and we had 24 kids between us, she subbed, but she wasn't going to miss her soaps, or whatever she left at 11:30 to do every day. Never mind that I barely had time to get my own lunch out, never mind that I needed someone to either help clean up after lunch, or watch the kids so I could clean up, it was time for her to go, so she left. Conversely, my new boss has stayed later than anyone, has been right there with us, doing exactly what she was asking us to do, and has laid it out that she expects all of us to help each other and to be courteous to each other. Yeah, I think I'm in a better place now.

Ok, the kitchen is done, and it's awesome! The only thing that's missing now is a countertop that isn't mauve, but the rest of it looks so good, I can live with the mauve counter for now.

I've pretty much given up on the garden. My tomato plants went into the ground in June, and now they're still less than 12 inches tall. The marigolds are doing fine, but otherwise, the weeds have almost completely taken over. I may get a couple of beets out of the garden, but I think everything else is a lost cause.

I think there may be a couple of factors. The soil probably needs fertilizer, but I think the big problem is that the garden area just plain doesn't get enough sunlight. How I got any tomatoes last year, I don't know. It's almost as if the trees have gotten leafier since last year.

I think a much better place to put a garden bed is going to be along the back fence. That seems to get more sun than most of the backyard. The front yard gets plenty of sun, but I just don't want to put a vegetable garden in the front. I think it's going to be a few years before I'll be able to really do a vegetable garden. I just haven't been able to give it the time it needs, or had the energy for it, between moving and working on the house last summer and recovering from the accident and finding a new job this summer. I may try to clear the weeds and plant some collards and rutabaga, but I don't know now.

When it cools off, I'm going to do the newspaper thing to control the weeds, or maybe use a plastic row-cover, and then in the spring, I'll sow wildflower seeds in that bed. When I'm ready to grow veggies, I think I'll build a wooden bed, and fill it with garden soil and compost, and maybe put stones around it to make it more permanent. Of course, I'm hoping I'll have a little reason to put this off for a couple of years....

The kitchen has been primed. I need to put another coat on the area over the cabinets, but the rest of the kitchen has had 2 coats. I was going to use the leftover paint from the hall, but I finally found a green that won't look awful with the mauve counte top and backsplash, so I think I'm going to save the other paint for the back bedroom. I got a floor for the laundry room, it's a cross between a floating floor and peel-and-stick. The tile sections have tabs to fasten to each other, like a floating laminate floor, but they are held together with adhesive, instead of locking grooves. It's supposed to be waterproof. I will never understand what would make that dense carpet, with backing that is essentially a sponge, seem like a good idea for the kitchen and the laundry room. Any water soaks the padding and stays forever. I will be so happy to have it out of the house.

The kitchen is almost completely naked now. There's one stubborn spot over the stove, and a little bit of backing paper hanging off the soffett, but otherwise, the only wallpaper left in the kitchen is what's behind the refrigerator. Quite frankly, anybody who would care what the wall behind the fridge looks like is not really someone whose opinion I particularly care to hear. Today, I'm going to try to strip the wallpaper in the laundry room, except what's behind the washer and dryer. Wednesday, we're going to try to get some help moving the washer and dryer, and then Thursday, I'll remove the wallpaper on that wall. I need to wash the kitchen walls, too, so maybe tomorrow I can patch some places. The wallpaper was covering painted-over wallpaper. It stuck to the wall pretty well, there were a few places where it came off, and I can just patch those places.

I bought fabric to make a baby quilt for my niece/nephew-to-be. The design is going to be pretty sweet, if I do say so myself. The center is going to be hexagons, and on the corner blocks on the outer border, I'm going to applique bees.

I have a favorite method of removing wallpaper: vinegar and hot water.

We tried the gel stuff from Home Depot, which is $13 for a jug, is hard to work with and pretty gross, stains the carpet and causes skin irritation. Maybe because it's lye.

The second time we did it, we tried renting a commercial steamer, which was $35 for a day,very heavy, causes steam burns, and can't get into tight spaces because the paddle is really big.

This time, I decided to try hot water and vinegar, because a big jug of white vinegar is about $4, why not? So far, it's worked better than either of the other two methods. The trick is getting the top layer off, and soaking the bottom layer before you try to scrape it off. It's also cost much, much less. We already had the wallpaper scrapers and the scoring thing and one spray bottle. So far, it's cost about $6 for a big jug of vinegar and another spray bottle.

I'm making good progress on the quilted panel I'm working on for Brawl. I've outlined all the figures, stuffed all but one, so I need to finish that one, and do the background quilting. Hopefully, that will go fairly quickly. I'm kind of over SCA projects right now. I'm going to finish this, and then I'm going to work on something else. I want the Irish dress, but I've given up on the leine for now. Instead, I'll wear one of the chemises I already have. I'd like to have spiffy new garb, but with the floor installation, though, we'll see. I've got a new day dress, made off the cotehardie pattern, but looser, enough so that it doesn't need to be buttoned.

I came up with an awesome design for a baby quilt. There's a traditional design, Grandmother's Garden, that's concentric circles of hexagons, usually with a yellow one in the center. I want to do that, but giant, so that one, maybe two rows, with pieces of hexagons to make a square, fill a 36-inch square. Outside of that, 12-inch wide borders with corner squares and appliqued bees in the corners. I think it would be awesome. The question is, should I do that for the nephew, or keep it for ours? No, my sister isn't far enough along to know the sex, but she has a feeling it's a boy, and so far, mom's intuition has a pretty good track record, so I'm calling it "he."

My next project, though will be a sweater for me. I'm excited about it. I found Stitch Nation yarn at Michael's for about $5 a skein. I got "Bamboo Ewe" in teal. It's a bamboo/wool blend, and a really good price for natural yarn.

I've actually been kind of down. My sister is pregnant, and my brother has been accepted to graduate school in Ireland. I'm really happy for them, but at the same time, I'm settling for a job that will probably be a really good experience, but isn't quite what I was hoping for, we still haven't had an offer of settlement from the wreck, so all that's in limbo, and it's getting close to a year of trying to conceive, and I'm starting to worry something might be wrong. The second phone call I got today, after my brother telling me he'd been accepted to the University of Limerick, was from the anesthesiologist's office. They won't accept a letter from my attorney, if they don't get their money in 9 days, they're turning the $62 over to a collections agency.
I put the check in the mail, but the whole thing really soured my day. I'm really fighting the urge to say to hell with it and stay in bed all day.

Taking the Plunge

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'm finally going to run a game. I'm going to run a 2-3 week mini-game of Legend of the Five Rings. Think samurai wuxia with magic and demons. I'm going to write up all the characters in advance, because character creation takes forever, and I'm pretty sure Neale and I have the only copy of the core book. Not to mention there are certain characters that will be very important for what I want to do, and that seemed like the best way to make sure that the characters would be useful. After all, a courtier who's a master of Go and ikebana would be an oni snack. Someone is already bitching, but he can kiss my ass. Or get a core book, make a character, and if it won't work, something will kill him.

Now to make my master villains, mwa ha ha!



I didn't think I'd come up Dragon clan, but ok.

The Product of a Political Conversation With My Husband in the Shower

I know what the Democratic party needs to do to fix our country. I admit it, I'm pretty much a Democrat, mostly because I know a third party has as much chance of national success as hell's hockey team in the Olympics, but after the corporate mouthpiece that Texas sent to Congress railed against the "shakedown" of BP, I think the Republican party is a lost cause.

So, Step 1: learn from the Republicans. There are two parts to this, the first being the formation of the party line and, um, inspiration for people to toe it. The Republican party is great at pulling ranks behind everything, which doesn't mean everybody needs to speak out in support of everything, but if you can't say something nice, shut the hell up. The more hard-core liberal branches of the party, particularly ones that are really into social issues just need to be assured that their issues will be treated with respect, but right now, there are more pressing issues, like getting people back to work, and the party would appreciate their support, but can the sabotage. People like Blanche Lincoln need to be told to support the President's initiatives, or don't count on party support come election time, period.

The second part is, stop giving the Republican spin machine ammunition. The Democratic party needs to re-brand itself (really, get back to its earlier position under FDR) as the party of working people, not unions, but middle-class working folks. They need to push reforms that would make things fair for regular people, get people back to work, make employers treat their people decently, make health care and insurance affordable, NATIONAL PAID MATERNITY LEAVE (seriously, IRAQ has more enlightened maternity policies than we do), and push the social issues (same-sex marriage and abortion) to the back burner. They can even pull a Republican and say they want to respect the rights of the states to make their own policies. The big reason I think there are so many red states in the South and midwest is because there really are some people here who will vote for the candidate who says what they want to hear about abortion, or marriage. Like the Kansas farmers who vote for the party that supports the very agribusiness machine that is putting the small family farm out of business, I really think some of them would vote for the second coming of Hitler if he said abortion was wrong. Some people don't listen to anything a candidate says, except for their pet issue. Sad, but true. No matter how reasonable the Democrats try to make that kind of social agenda, it's going to bite them every time, so don't go there. Quite frankly, I'm not nearly as concerned about either of those issues as I am about the fact that individual health insurance with a pregnancy rider could cost 25% of my annual income.

I had thought this might be the month when things turn around, but no. I've finally reached the "depression" phase of dealing with crap. I'm fighting it, and doing things I don't particularly feel like doing, like leaving the house, just because I'm afraid that if I don't, it will be the first step down the slippery slope to spending days on end in sweats or pajamas and not showering until Neale makes me. It would just be really nice if one thing I start would not turn to shit. Just one.

I'm not sorry to have lost the job. It had gotten to the point where the only things that made me happy about going to work anymore were the times when kids asked me to sit with them while they did a work, and I was actually able to take them up on it. That, and the random hugs, those are awesome. But in general, I was incredibly frustrated by decisions that made no sense to me, and basic philosophical differences. Neale has called me a disciple of Jamie Oliver, but that's not true. If I'm a disciple of anybody, it's Barbara Kingsolver, she was championing the local/slow food movement first. So the hot lunch as "whatever cheap frozen or canned crap we can find at Wal-Mart" was pretty much anathema to me. Half the time the "vegetarian" option had to be fixed, because often the labels weren't read. Ranch-style beans, besides being disgusting, contain rendered beef fat, just fyi.

But I'm incredibly frustrated by the job search. I've filled out about 4 online applications, and sent out a dozen resumes. The places I want to work, with one exception, aren't hiring, and the places that are hiring......well, you know how people complain teachers don't get paid enough? I would have been making at least $4,000 more if I had been working in a public school, and the jobs I've been offered would have involved a pay cut between 10% and 30%, and I doubt some of them include benefits. The worst part? I was offered my ideal job, for a fantastic salary, the only drawback being the lack of insurance, and the offer was withdrawn, I don't know why.

The summer off? Pretty much ruined. So far, I've spent the past two weeks looking for a job, doing homework for an Arkansas history class, in hopes that it will help me get a job, and doing yard work/cleaning house. The yard work and house cleaning are the only things that were on the original agenda. So far, all the garb I bought patterns and supplies for? Barely started. The sweater I bought the yarn and needles for? Sitting in my yarn tubbie.

I probably should go back on the pill, but I won't. After 8 months, I refuse to. Damn it, after everything that's happened, after the accident, and the surgery, and the job, I'm not going to prevent the one thing that I would absolutely put up with all this crap for. That's also a major factor in the job I'm seriously considering, of all the ones I know I have a shot at. I don't want to say anything yet, because that will surely jinx it. It's not quite what I want, but it's still working with kids, has the potential to be very rewarding, has decent benefits, and I'm fairly sure the maternity policy, if I happen to get pregnant in the next few months (I'm hoping) is unlikely to be "FMLA applies after a year." It's interesting what you find out when businesses post their employee handbooks online. I assume the unwritten part of that is "don't get pregnant until you've been here a year," which is like saying "don't get sick," or "don't let your grandma die until you've been here x amount of time." All of that is absurd, because let's face it, life happens. The fact that companies seem to think they don't have to accommodate the fact that their employees have lives astounds me.

I would think that the SCA might, at least, be somewhat of a refuge from everything going to shit, but no. Yesterday was supposed to be a joint A&S day for the Barony and Southtower, but that failed miserably. It was a nice day, there was a pretty decent turnout, but the great unifying day it was not. It was just like the previous Southtower A&S days, except there was a slightly lower turnout. There were 4 people from the Barony proper. I give up. I quit. I refuse to clear weekends to host stuff for people to avoid. I guess the only people who want to show up for anything are the fighters. Yeah, Birthday Bash was this weekend, but I know there are plenty of people who stayed home. I know the Baron and Baroness couldn't come because they're dealing with life issues right now, but I'm not getting any support from anyone else. Nobody from my household showed up, none of the officers showed up, the seneschal didn't show up. I quit.

I was doing so well. I had an entire month, which includes spring break, before the next run of events. I had cut out Neale's under tunic and new dress tunic. I had started trying to cut out a cothardie, then realized that I didn't have enough material, but I could use that material for Neale's jerkin. I was going to go look at a site for the candlelight bid, and I should have a Star Trek uniform for Mid South Con.

Then, some jerk made a left turn across traffic into my lane. Now, my car is totaled. My wrist is broken, and I have a friction burn on my face. I have to have surgery to replace a shattered bone with a metal plate. I will miss an entire month of work.

But I'm lucky. I have the best husband in the world, who has been nothing short of wonderful. My family has been fantastic. My friends have been wonderfully kind and supportive.

I'm not where I wanted to be. I am frustrated at not being able to use my right hand, but I will be ok.

It's really, really frustrating to arrange your schedule around something that you're doing for other people, only to have nobody show up. I don't know if it's a symptom of some of the political crap that's going on in the barony right now, or if people are getting tired, or if I was wrong, and people really don't want to have monthly Saturday project days. I know there are some people who were sick, I know some went to fighter's collegium, but I know that doesn't cover everyone.

On the plus side, one of the 2 people who did show up helped me fix the jerkin I'm making for Neale, and we generally had a nice evening. My grandparents brought me the dining room table that my great-grandfather built, which I love and am happy to have, and I'm glad I have it without anything bad happening to my grandparents, but at the same time, this doesn't belong in my house, it belongs in Grandma's house, and it's kind of weird.

Neale woke up sick this morning, we think with food poisoning. That has NOT been fun for anyone. Candlelight camp, my favorite local event, has been canceled. Supposedly because it wouldn't draw enough people, and the barony would lose lots of money on it. I think that's an excuse, but that's just me. I'm trying to save it, and I'm putting a bid together. I was supposed to go with Kat to look at a site, but I think I need to stay home and take care of Neale, so I'm going to do it on Thursday instead. Not what I'd planned to do with my monthly half day, but that's how it goes.

I finished the shawl! And, once again, I've had snow days. Still snowed in, unexpectedly, for 2 days, but this time, it was Monday and Tuesday. I don't know about tomorrow, the streets are still wet and slushy in places, and the temperature is supposed to drop to 19 or 20 degrees tonight, so I may wake up to ice-covered streets and a snow day, but more likely, we'll have a delayed start if anything.

Anyway, the shawl still has to be blocked (I forgot to do that today), but it's done. I've done a little more on the quilt, but I spent most of today reading and drafting the pattern for Neale's new jerkin. It's kind of hard to describe. Vest with a skirt? Henry VIII wore them, but usually under a "gown" (big swing-coat thing), so it's hard to tell what they look like. He requested sleeveless this time around, which I know is probably supposed to be worn over a doublet with sleeves, but he gets hot, it's Arkansas, not Ireland. I bought some gray cotton, and I'm going to make one out of that, and then order royal blue linen for the one for coronation. Since I drafted the pattern myself from a little picture in a book, I want to make the trial one out of $2/yard cotton, and save the $7/yard linen until I know it'll be right. I'll give the shirt one more chance, if it doesn't work out, he can buy one from Elaina, if he wants a new one. I really want to do this right, and actually end up with nice garb for coronation. I'm leaving mine until close to the event, because I want to make sure it fits. I'll probably make my dress over spring break. I'm thinking of a better version of my original dress, royal blue with a red petticoat. I'm not going to do the pale blue lining this time, to make it lighter. I'd like to make a leine, but we'll see.

I've been snowed in for two days. Today, it was sunny, and the roads are clearing nicely. It would be nice to squeeze another snow day out of it, but it was really nice to get out a little today.

I have one skein left to knit on the shawl, and 10 squares left to quilt on the quilt, then the border, and the binding. I'm trying to get at least one of these finished before starting the next round of projects, but I don't think I'm going to make it.

So far, in my quest to catch up on my reading, I've read The Dark is Rising, Yarrow, and The Book of Three from The Prydain Chronicles. The Illuminator, by Brenda Rickman Vantrese and The Holy Grail, by Norma Lorre Goodrich are next.

I'm taking over as A&S (arts and sciences) officer for the Barony. This basically means I'm responsible for coordinating and reporting artsy-crafty-type stuff within the group, and with the Canton. Fun. So, at the end of February, I'm teaching a class on applique, because several people have asked me about it, which is kind of cool, but I'm kind of wondering how they knew to ask me. Anyway, there's a call for artisans to donate two of whatever to the kingdom for largesse. I'm thinking of combining the two, and using scrap fabric to make pouches, decorated with some sort of applique.

The big project coming up is going to be garb, I think. I want to make Neale an early Tudor-style jerkin. I've promised, no codpiece, no tights. I ordered the pattern for the Irish dress. It's the kind you see in the Gaelsong catalog and all the sites that cater to rennies. It's a simplified version of a dress that was found in a bog that's been dated to about the 16th century. I found this website http://www.geocities.ws/Jongloresse/SCA/costume.htm when I was looking for adaptations of the Shinrone dress. I ordered the painstakingly researched pattern, and asked a friend to make it for me, and I don't like it. The skirt is pleated in a weird way, that makes it extremely heavy and awkward, and it just fits oddly. The less-accurate common style is more comfortable and flattering, so that's what I'm going with, but I'm going to add hanging sleeves, and I want to embroider them. The goal is to make nice spiffy new garb for us for Coronation in April. I'm thinking I'll order the material soon, and start on Neale's stuff, and embroidering the sleeves for mine, and strips that I can attach to the bodice, and I'll actually make the bodice closer to time, so I can be sure it will fit properly.

Well, dress is done. Done enough to wear, anyway. I finished the sleeves at the event, but I had them to wear for the afternoon. The skirt needs to be hemmed a bit, and the overdress needs to be hemmed a LOT, but it works. I need to get more rings for lacing to add to the sleeves, because I don't have quite enough to get the sleeves to lay right. It just needs a little tweaking, though. I'm going to make a lightweight gown for summer. If I wear it belted, it may work over a chemise for summer. I definitely want to make the overdress, though, since it was announced today that both the next coronation and crown list are going to be local, and I want something nice to wear.