Come Stitch With Me

Okay, so I’m a bit behind in the quilt-a-long. That’s okay. I’ll eventually get caught up. Spending some time sewing this weekend has been so good for my soul.

Sadie and I took a road trip to Rome today to checkout the new Baby Lock Ballad. It’s really nice, but the price quoted by this dealer is $1,000 more than the dealer closer to home. Not sure why there’s such a price difference between two dealers that are roughly 50 miles apart. But here’s the thing.. I really don’t want another purple sewing machine. Just no.

Ideally, I find a Baby Lock Aria, but the Brother Quilt Club 2450/2500 is looking like it might be the one.

This friendly girl and I will restart the R.E.A.D. program at the Smyrna Public Library in about 3 weeks. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I was to receive the news from the children’s librarian that all systems are go. This begins a new chapter for me with a different therapy dog partner in the R.E.A.D. program.

One good thing that came out of the recent side gig is a better understanding of InDesign and a rudimentary knowledge of Illustrator. I’ll continue to take advantage of professional learning opportunities at the day job to hone my skills. I will not take on any major projects like the recent side gig again as long as I am still working full-time. Does.not.work.

Most of the time, it’s a good thing to stretch yourself so that you can continue growing.

I may have taken on a project that is simply too much for me to do while I am still working full-time. The learning curve has been much steeper than expected. Being exhausted when I get home from work everyday doesn’t help either.

So, I’m being proactive. I’ve reworked my library schedule for Monday and Tuesday (essentially closing the library except for scheduled classes) so I can finish redoing the nonfiction section. I had hoped to get this completed during Conference Week since the kids start informational writing next week, but no, I was pulled to babysit students who didn’t ride the bus home or to stuff data notebooks every afternoon.

Weary, but I need to hunker down and power through the learning stage of my current project. It’s an ongoing collaboration that’s going to provide a needed sense of purpose once I hang up my teacher librarian hat.

UPDATE: So, I hunkered down and powered through, feeling good about the work product I submitted. Feedback was not quite what I expected, which was fine. However, after thinking about the next steps and the limited amount of time I have available for extra projects, I trusted my gut and made the decision to bow out now. The other party wasn’t too pleased, but I’d rather tell them now than let it drag on.

Seven months ’til freedom. I can’t wait.