Shifting Gears

Just one week and a day left before the begining of inservice training for the next school year. I went into school today to check on things. My new forensic science books were in, and there were 40 of them! That seemed like a lot, so I pulled up my rosters. Only 30 students signed up so far, but still, that's a lot for a brand new course. There are 23 in my chemistry class, which is three more than there are seats in the class, so I'll wait for that to get sorted out. I took a textbook to Jamaica and spent the trip home reading, outlining and brainstorming ideas. I've got the syllabus roughed out and a time line for each of the units. I'm starting to get excited about some of the cool stuff we're going to to be doing.
No sewing in the last couple of days, the kids have started playing a game called The Sims. Their families were all in dire straights, so they recruited me to try to get everything back in order. I don't know why the game has me so mesmerized, but I keep going back to check on everyone and see how they are doing. Then when the kids go back in and mess everything up again I get frustrated that all my work has been wasted. Is there some sort of metaphor in that I should be pondering?

Home Again

We got back late last night from Jamaica. There was a delay in Montego Bay and we almost missed our connection, but made it after a mad dash through the Maimi airport. Just the usual travel stuff, but after 12 hours in transit, it was good to be home. The kids had hugs and kisses for us this morning, but were generally pretty nonchalant about the fact that we were gone for almost a week. I guess that means they had a good time without us.
It was so nice to get away and not have to worry about anything for a while, but being home always feels pretty good, regardless of how nice the vacation was. The laundry is already in the washer, and I went through the mail this morning, so there isn't even a lot of catch up to take care of.

I didn't quite make it through drinking the alphabet. I only had two drinks left on my list the last night, but they didn't have the ingredients for a Zombie or an Undertow. Still, everyone needs a goal, right? I'm not usually much of a drinker, but I was getting into the spirit of things. The waitresses and bartenders were helping me think of things for each letter, which was fun. We made friends with another couple at the piano bar, and he was sending me horrible tasting drinks. If ever anyone offers you a shot of Fernet Blanco, just say no! I think a Fuzzy Navel is a much nicer way to get an F crossed off the list, although someone else suggested Frangellica which is also nice.
The food was very good, but the focus was more on quality than on quantity so you didn't end up with that stuffed feeling that is so unpleasant on cruises. Everything was presented beautifully, not just at the two restaurants that required reservations, but also at the walk-in ala carte places. I so much enjoy having everything included. Knowing that you've already paid for the entire vacation, it becomes fun to just enjoy everything that is offered. The snorkeling was very nice, and sailing was fun. Those pictures are on the waterproof camera, so I'll have to have them developed. I wasn't very good at water skiing, but I tried anyway. We spent a fair amount of time just relaxing in hammocks with a book as well. They had a little flag you could stick in the ground if you wanted someone to bring you a drink. I thought that was a little bit to much though, and usually walked to the bar for a refill.
Our sunset boat cruise was excellent and it included swimming in caves, but no cliff diving for me. I'm terrified of heights and watched in terror as other people plummeted into the water. They seem to have a very relaxed atmosphere about everything in Jamaica, and didn't bother to even count the number of people on the boat to make sure they all came back. I thought it was unusual, but it wasn't until we started to motor off without the captain that I realized how easy it would be to loose someone. He was a little upset that nobody had noticed he wasn't on the boat, and I think he was swearing up a storm when we went back for him, but of course it wasn't in English, so it was hard to tell.
The Jamaica that you see outside the boundaries of resorts is a little bit scary. The scenery is breathtaking, but it is spoiled by garbage and debris and abandoned buildings. When you go through the towns and villages there are bars on all of the shop windows. The residential buildings don't always have windows and the roofs are made of corrugated tin held down with cinder blocks. A lot of people that work at the resort actually live on the property in a set of dorms that they have for that purpose. Even the resort itself had lots of security guards, although they were very friendly and would even take a picture if you asked them. I made sure to ask if it was safe before I ran outside the boundaries of the resort, but he assured me I was OK as long as I stayed on the beach. He still took my room number though to make sure I came back.
The resort property was pristine and immaculate. There are people raking the beach all day long and making sure everything was clean and tidy. Sometimes it seemed that there must be as many employees as guests. Every restaurant had separate people to pour water, bring bread, take drink orders and serve food. Then entirely different people would come to clear the dishes when you were done and use little crumb sweepers to clean the table. So I guess real life is ready to return. Maybe I can get one of those crumb sweepers for the kids?

Ready Set Go

The bags are packed, the notes are left. The in-laws arrived and are settled in with the kids. Everyone is getting along great and the kids are ready to shove us both out the front door. I've lost the argument over whether to bring the lap top or not, so I won't be updating my blog until we get back. I think they are getting drenched by the storm right now, so I'm hoping it will all clear out about the time we are due to arrive. That's my plan anyway.

All Set

I went out today and got a manicure AND pedicure. I've got a new bikini, a new book and a reservation. What else could I need? The tropical system is due to arrive about the same time as us, but it doesn't even have name yet. I think it would be a funnier story if the storm got a name. Even if it is a little bit rainy, someone else will be doing the cooking and cleaning and the kids will be safely at home being entertained by their grandparents. My big goal for the week is to work my way through the drink menu and the activity schedule. I've even got some Dear Jane blocks to keep me busy on the flight. Life is good.

Quilt Washing Day

I'm sure in the old days I would be hanging the washing out on the line to dry in the sun. But I don't think clothes lines are allowed in our neighborhood and it rains every day in Florida this time of year. So I've spread the quilts out to dry over patio chairs under the covered lanai. Something has been smelly in Ryan's room lately and I can't quite get to the bottom of it. I'm hoping it's something simple like the quilts or pillows and not something complicated like water intrusion through the wall. That side of the house took the brunt of the last couple of hurricanes so I tend to worry about mold and such. I haven't seen any evidence, but I'd feel better if I could get rid of the smell. Maybe it's just 7 year old boy smell.
I'm slowly getting to the bottom of my cleaning list. Kurt is on his way back from the airport now, so maybe he can do a few little things this afternoon while I run out to the store. I've got a good start on packing so I think I'm in pretty good shape overall. Gwen Marston's Liberated Strings book came in the mail today, so I'm thinking I should take a few minutes to relax and look through it before I do any more work.

Friendship Bread

Someone brought bags of friendship bread to the Girl Scout meeting on Monday. Then one of the leaders compared it to the ashes of campfires that are ceremoniously collected at each camping event and then spread into each new fire. The idea is that the same ashes unite all of the fires to each other. Today as I was finishing up the Dad's Plaids blocks (finally) I put together some of the "bonus" pinwheels from a quilt I made when my nephew was born last year. My quilts never seem to end. Little bits of one lead to another and the scraps from those lead on to the next. I'm thinking of putting a wide border on this one and doing some kind of appliqué. I might also experiment with some more wonky letters, but I'm not sure what they should say. The original quilt was called Zach's Shining Star, so I should try to tie that theme in somehow. Maybe something like Star Light, Star Bright. It's not very big, so I don't know how many words will fit.
One of my neighbors called this afternoon to chat and we discovered that both of our husbands were out of town for dinner. We went over to let all the kids play together and ordered some pizza for dinner. It was nice to catch up on all the neighborhood gossip and chat over a glass of wine. After I came home and got the kids put down, I did some serious chain piecing and am just about done with ALL of the blocks for the Dad's Plaids quilt. It takes a lot longer to make a king size quilt than a cute little wall hanging. Steel Magnolias was on cable, so I sat and matched up squares and cried my eyes out. I'm such a sap sometimes.

Spirals

I seem to be doing the same thing day after day, but each time I get a little closer to the end goal. It's a never ending game of successive approximations. Each time I attack the same space again it gets closer clean, a little less chaotic and a little emptier. This is the closet where the computer and all of it's ancillaries live. It also holds girl scout supplies as well as overflow of scrap booking and quilting supplies. I'm still supposed to fill all the holes from the old closet organizers and repaint everything, but that's still pretty far down on the list.
I went swimsuit shopping for Jamaica today. Yikes! I don't mean to start a rant here, but I am not in love with current fashion trends. I spent too many years sporting maternity clothes to voluntarily wear them while I'm not pregnant. And all of the shorts are either so short that everything hangs out, or right below the knee making my calves look giant. And then I started trying on bathing suits! I'm in decent shape for a middle aged person with three kids. Chubbier than most marathon runners, but still not exactly obese. I just wanted a simple two piece, big enough to cover the stretch marks. Is that too much to ask? Somehow everything that wasn't really skimpy looked like a dress. I finally ended up finding something that would work at Target, and lucky me, it was on clearance.
Last night I had a social get together with the Girl Scout leadership team. Did I mention that I gave in and agreed to take the school coordinator position? I talked my co leader into sharing the job with me, but I couldn't convince her to take it completely. I'm not sure how I'll make everything work during registration and pre-planning, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Still working slowly on Dad's Plaids. I think I have about 96 out of 144 blocks done. Most of the others are in progress somewhere, it's just a matter of working them all through the pipeline. Kurt's out of town again and the kids are all settled for the night, so I should take advantage and sew into the wee hours. Maybe it I'm really lucky they'll let me sleep in tomorrow morning.

It Can't Be

We've just begun packing for our romantic Jamaican getaway. Five days at an all inclusive couples only beach front resort with water sports and yoga and white sand beaches. Then in my in box was a link to weather underground, our favorite hurricane tracking site. We all have our favorite sites down here. We know which computer models to follow and when they update them. We've learned the hard way all about hurricanes around here. So it doesn't even have a name right now, it's still just an investigation, but it's headed straight for Jamaica! It Can't Be!

An Award!!!!!

Thanks so much Amanda, for giving me the Brillante Weblog award. It was so nice of you to think of me! I had to laugh when I saw the list of her nominated bloggers, because we read most of the same blogs. I looked through my list and tried to find my daily reads that did not duplicate the ones already listed. These are blogs that make me want to smile, laugh, think or quilt. Thanks to all the bloggers who inspire me in more ways than I can name.

Beth at bzqltr who's machine quilting inspires
Rhonda at Doxies on my Quilt who makes beautiful quilts in duplicate
Melinda at Creations by Melinda who makes great screen bags that are on my list to try
Nines at Prairiequilts who juggles so many kids and still manages to be crafty.
Peg at Happy in Quilting who has gotten so many of us motivated with her challenge
Tazzie at Tazzie Quilts who uses great reproduction fabrics that make me want to expand my stash
Shinynewthing at Too Many Hobbies who, like me doesn't try to limit her number of hobbies

The rules are as follows:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog/

2. Link to the person you received your award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Put links to those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

Plugging Ahead

I'm still working on the Dad's Plaids block. I know if I could just sit down and spend 2 hours on it i would have the blocks done, but two uninterrupted hours don't come easy around here. I only have a few of the star blocks, because they are fussier to make, so I think I'll place those strategically in the middle.
I've been tired by the time I get all the kids down and happy to curl up with a book. I read a cute one yesterday by Sophie Kinsella , it was on the new book shelf at the library. I've tried to read her shopping series in the past, but I don't have any patience for all the shopping talk. I've read two of her other books though that are very cute. Not exactly cerebral, but good light escapism.
I'm still going through all of the kids old school papers getting them ready to go into scrapbooks. It's so hard to figure out how much to keep and how much to throw away. I end up taking pictures of the bigger stuff and putting those in the scrapbook so that the originals can go away. This is the Thanksgiving leaf from preschool where Ryan was thankful for his refrigerator, and a self portrait by his very first girl friend, Caroline.