Weekend Work

I ran 12 miles yesterday and it just wiped me out! I think I should have snuck up on it a little more. I was OK for the first 10 and then I started to get really tired. I made it through the last two, but then wanted to collapse at the end. I walked it out and managed to make it home. After a quick caffeine and sugar infusion (Mountain Dew) I showered and ate some breakfast. By then I was ready for a morning nap, and managed to sleep until lunch. I was fairly useless for the rest of the day, which tells me I wasn't quite ready for that long of a run yet. I'll fall back in mileage next week and maybe try it again the week after. I always assume that because I've done long runs before, I should be able to do them again. It doesn't seem like you should have to start from square one every time you start training again, but in some ways you really do.
I did manage do do a little puttering in the sewing room while watching bits and pieces of the Olympics on TV. I've been doing flying geese as leaders and enders with the thought that they might be the border for Dad's Plaids. I got one flap sewn on the first batch while managing to loose third piece. It was highly annoying to try to go back and match all the bits up again. So this time I pinned all three pieces together from the start. The first flap is in sewing position and the second is just hanging off the bottom until I get the the next step. I takes a little time to do the pinning, but at least I'm not loosing all the pieces and trying to find them again. I'm not sure if I'll put the borders on Sirenia today or try to get the Dad's Plaids blocks together into a flimsy. I've got a bunch of ironing I could catch up on with lots of leaders and enders. That might be my choice if something interesting is happening in the Olympics.

Lucky 8

I had a good day at school today. There was a computer training session in the morning, but then I spent a lot of time planning and coordinating with people as I randomly bumped into them. I'm spending a lot of time with the new chemistry teacher. She's got lots of questions, which I'm trying to answer without telling her what she should do. We also have a new math teacher who wants to line up our syllabi so that we are teaching some of the same topics at the same time. He doesn't have his course planned yet, so he wanted me to just tell him when to do the topics that overlap. I don't know if I'm just very persuasive or if everyone else is just accommodating, but hey, if it gets the job done then I'm all for it. The math and science teachers all went out to lunch as a group. It's nice to spend some time with people socially. I think it makes it easier to work together.
I spent the afternoon doing girl scout things. Did I mention that I caved completely on the school coordinator position? I have a pathological inability to say no. In my own defense, I did say no at least three times. If only I had been strong enough to say no just once more I would have been home free. So I called all the leaders today to get contact info and updates on the status of all of the troops. I'm going to send an e-mail and try to get people to volunteer to help out with the registration booth on Wednesday. The way the schedules line up this year, the public school registration day is the same as my first day of school. So I guess I'll finish teaching and then go over to sit at the booth in the afternoon.
I watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics this evening while finishing up my Sirenia quilt. Kurt was helping out with artistic decisions, so it ended up much more symmetrical than I had planned. I think I'll add a dark blue border to the outside and it will be about the right size. Kiribati just appeared in the parade of nations! Kurt had never heard of it, but I read a whole book that took place on a Kirabatian Island! I think it was called The Sex Lives of Cannibals. It was hilarious. We've got the globe out, and are looking up all the countries that are unfamiliar. I wish the kids were awake, they are fascinated with maps and would get a big kick out of all of the flags. It's getting late now, and I'd better call it a night. I'm supposed to run 12 miles in the morning starting at 6. I'd love to start later, but I don't run that fast and it gets hot after the sun comes up.

Day 1

Today was the first day of preplanning. It was mostly meetings. I had a few minutes in my room and got my books numbered and quilts hung. The kids were so excited about having a babysitter, they were disappointed when Dad got home at 11.
After dinner I whipped up a couple of binder covers. One is for the planner that I use at home with calenders and to do lists and phone numbers. The other is for my "grade book" at school. I don't keep a traditional grade book now that everything is on the computer. However, I do keep a written record of everything in a three ring binder. I thought it would be nice to have something a little more visually pleasing than a plastic covered binder. The first one was pretty plain, but I got fancy on the second one and worked in a wrap around pocket for pens and pencils and things. Maybe I'll get really carried away and make a matching cover for my textbooks! As I was making the second I realized I could have made them even faster if I had just used a single piece of fabric and sewn down the edges. They were super simple to make and used up some more of the home dec fabric that was leftover from the grocery bags. Of course the grocery bags were leftover fabric from actual home decoration. I wonder what I'll come up with for the next cycle with the same fabric?

3 2 1

Count down. I'm trying to get to bed at a decent hour tonight. After bribing the kids with ice cream to clean the toy room, they were so motivated that they begged for just a few more minutes of cleaning time. Then I took a little time to work on the Sirenia quilt after I got everyone to bed. I'd love to sew into the wee hours and get it finished up tonight. Instead I've stuck it decoratively to my portable design wall (formerly known as science fair boards). I'll get everything picked up off the floor before I turn into a pumpkin. The babysitter should be here by 7:50 so I can head into school for a brand new year.

Last Day

This was the sight that awaited me when I rolled out of bed this morning. All three of the kids were huddled around the computer playing Super Chuzzle. You get points every time you get three in a row. They have discovered that if you click on certain chuzzles repeatedly they will burp or explode. What could be more fun than that.?
Because this is officially my last day of summer vacation, I decided just to putter around the house rather than trying to finish anything officially. I"m pretty caught up on laundry, the house is in decent shape, and the kids are all entertained. They are excited to have a sitter tomorrow, and Kurt is coming home on the redeye.
I made the letters for my next marine science quilt which is sirenia -- those are the manatees and dugongs. I'm going to go for a porthole effect and set the manatee fabric in circles into squares of each of the colored fabrics. Then to turn it back into a square I'll add sashing strips with piano keys of the colored fabrics. That's the plan anyway. We'll see how it comes together. I ran out to Home depot today and bought some wooden dowels and hooks so I can hang the finished quilts in my room at school. I think they will brighten the place up.

Ice Skating and Odds and Ends

Tonight was the boyscout back to school bash at a local ice skating rink. Anna loves to skate and took lessons a couple of years ago during the summer. Ryan has skated once or twice at a birthday party, and Sydney was a first timer. Anna went out and skated like an old pro. Ryan cautiously worked his way around the rink, slowly and methodically. After the first trip around I got Sydney a walker and she took off like a maniac. She went fast and fearless in every possible direction. She would fall down and then hop right back up and go again. The only time she cried all night was when I told her it was time to leave. Now she wants to take skating lessons. I must admit, it's a better fit for her than ballet. I'll have to check out the times for the next session and see it they are full yet.
Just two more days left until it's back to the grindstone. I finished up the binding and hanging sleeve for Chondrichthyes and added an extra hanging sleeve on Echinodermata. I'm not sure how, but the original sleeve ended up on the side rather than the top. I picked up some hooks so I can hang them in my classroom. I think I have the perfect place in mind. I got a call from the upper school principal today asking if I would be willing to teach an extra class this year. There are only two sections of regular chemistry and they are already over capacity. So, they've added another section during 4th period. So far there are only three students in it, but they can try to shift some of the others over before school starts. Even though I'll have an extra class, they are during the first four periods of they day, so I'll still be officially done teaching by 11:17 on a normal day. Not a bad schedule at all.
I'm down to one child tomorrow. Anna is in gymnastics camp this week and Sydney has her next to last day of preschool tomorrow. We've had at least one child at the same preschool for the last 6 years. It's going to be very emotional to see the last one leave. It will be very nice though, to put them all on the bus in the morning and have them all at the same school for the next 4 years. I'll try to talk Ryan into coming to school with me for an hour or so to do some decorating and organization in my room.

Sharks are Done

I just finished sewing the binding on the chondrichthyes quilt. Wow did it come together fast. Admittedly, it is a very simple design but I'm still happy with a finish. So that makes 2 in the marine science series. I couldn't help going online last night and browsing at Hancock's of Paducah for more animal themed fabric. Actually, now that I think of it, plants would work as well. I've never seen bacteria fabric, or protists for that matter. Maybe mushroom are out there, I really should be fair to all the kingdoms I suppose. I've still got penguin and manatee fabric sitting in wait, so I suppose I shouldn't be in a huge hurry to shop for more fabric. Somewhere I saw a box jelly quilt that Lisa Boyer had made with some sort of bias strips. Now that I think about it, I have some snakes and maybe a rooster or two as well. OK, I' stop before I get carried away.
Kurt's gone again. He'll be back on the redeye on Thursday just in time to miss my first day back at school. He was nice enough to arrange a babysitter though until he gets home. I think the kids and I will go to CiCi's pizza for dinner, I try to save special treats for when Dad is out of town. Then Anna needs some new sneakers for school. She's hit a growth spurt recently and outgrown everything. Maybe she won't be the shortest in her class this year!

"Artsy"

I felt like starting something new yesterday, so I pulled out my marine science fabric collection and pulled some bits for the next phylum quilt. I probably shouldn't call them phylum quilts because some of the groups are classes and and some are orders, but that's beside the point I guess. This fabric has sharks, so it represents the cartilaginous fish. Their official name is chondrichthyes. Wow was that hard to spell! I had to keep looking it up as I made the letters because couldn't believe how many h's I had to make. It's turned sideways in the photo so you can see the letters. I had a beautiful pair of c's and an o, but when I held them up next the quilt, I realized I could only fit 8 letters down the side. So I went back to the drawing board and cut the strips smaller. I think they are about 3/4 of an inch and even then, I had to trim everything down to get it all in. The letters are less deliberately wonky than last time in that I cut all the strips straight, but I still get a pretty wonky feeling when I look at them. If you haven't done any free form letters yet, you should really check out Tonya's tutorial. They are just way too much fun! I'll get the last bit put together today and I should be able to get it all layered up. I have been working on a scale/fin shape for the quilting, I don't know how it's going to work out.
I got up and ran 5 miles this morning with two of my running partners. I felt pretty good, especially considering I did 10 yesterday. But with Kurt gone this week, I won't be able to run until Thursday night at the earliest, so it was good to log some miles. I really should do some laundry today and maybe get the yard mowed. Some days I ponder the exciting drama that is my life.

Feeling Virtuous

I finally sat down last night and chained through the last few blocks on Dad's Plaids. They were pinned and sitting there next to the machine, ready for the last seam to turn them into finished blocks. The last few batches aren't pressed yet, but I started counting and pinning them together into 12 groups of 12 blocks. When I got the last batch, I was 3 blocks short! So I had to go back to the box of bits and pieces and pull out parts for the last few blocks. While I was at it, I made flying geese out of the extra triangle bits and got those ready for leaders and enders. I'm thinking of using those for a border, but we'll wait to see on that one. Fortunately I got that finished up by about 10:30 because I wanted to turn in early before this mornings run.
It's getting hot earlier and earlier around here, and I had to set the alarm for 5:30 to try to be back before things got brutal. I haven't been getting up that early recently, so I did the waking up to check the clock every hour thing that I always do when I'm worried about oversleeping. Still, I was out the door and pounding the pavement by 5:45, and I even had breakfast first.
I've been reading the Galloway book that talks about the benefits of running with regular walk breaks and wanted to give it a try again. I was running with Tom this morning and he was willing to try it with me. There is a fork in the road at about 2.5 miles where I was going to decide which loop to take, the short one for 6 miles, the medium loops for 7 or 8, or the long 10 mile loop. I was feeling so good with all the walking that we did the 10 miler and I finished with a smile on my face! Despite all the walk breaks, I was still within 5 minutes of what I usually would have run for that distance. I sat down this morning and worked the numbers to see if a marathon is still feasible for Thanksgiving. This program spreads out the long runs on alternating weekends and calls for a 26 mile training run. It was close, but I would still be able to get up to 24 if I kept going from where I am now. Now all I have to do is talk someone else into running with me. I'm not entirely sure it's what I'll do. My back up plan would be to do the half, but try to improve my time and break the 2 hour mark that I found so elusive last year.

Abandonment Issues and School Shopping

I feel so sad every time I walk through the laundry room. My Dad's Plaids blocks are sitting there next to the machine so patiently. They are just waiting for those last few seems until all of the blocks are finished. I thought I was going to get everything done before the in-laws showed up, but I just missed my goal and so left them there, hoping to get back to them soon. That was before Jamaica, before my shift to back to school preparations. I think when a project gets abandoned suddenly along the way it's harder to pick it back up. Now it's not just a matter of finishing those last few blocks, but also remembering where I was headed, how many blocks I needed, how they were going to go together. Actually, the blog is good for "remembering" those little details. Kurt is planning to go out tonight to listen to one of his friends from work who is in a band. Maybe I'll take that as an opportunity to wade back in.
I spent the morning in my classroom starting the preparations for the new year. I cleaned out my desk drawers, prepared student files and set up my grade-book. I'm trying to put off doing anything that involves putting students names on things, because those always seem to change at the last minute. Basically it's just clerical work, but the more I can get done now, the less stress I'll have next week. I have my own little routine and checklist of all of the things that need to get done before classes start on August 13, now I just need to slowly work my way through the list.
Kurt is going out of town again, so today was my only chance to get a jump on things. I was feeling smug for all my hard work, and so treated myself to lunch out and a shopping trip for back to school clothes. Kurt calls my work clothes "the frumpy teacher wardrobe". It doesn't worry me though, I'm more concerned about comfort and functionality than fashion. Best of all, I had a gift card for Kohl's, so it cost very little. After the shopping I went to go see Mama Mia! I guess it didn't get the best of reviews, but I quite enjoyed it. Beautiful scenery, good music, and a funny, if slightly silly plot. It was reassuring to see people looking like real people, and not Hollywood starlet's. After seeing Sex and the City, it was nice to see more realistic versions of middle aged people. Pierce Brosnon is a horrid singer, but it was still enjoyable.