Blogtember here I come!

So I came upon this challenge on A Plethora of Pondering's blog...(never mind that there is an apostrophe in that last word. It drives me nuts, but maybe that's why she does it. I'm just putting it out there as it's stated on her blog title.) The original challenge blogger asked bloggers to write a post stemming from an idea or question or activity, one being listed for each weekday of the month of September. Yeah, forget that it's already the 7th of the month and I'm just getting around to it. Nobody reads my blog anyway. :(

Yesterday's idea was to write about a time when something made you scared or afraid.

My childhood was filled with times like this! No kidding. My father was an alcoholic. Not one of those fun-loving, dance-with-a-lampshade-on-your-head kind either. He was the mean, violent kind. The kind that scares everyone. Especially little kids. My young life consisted of going to bed early, locking the bedroom door (a dead bolt was later installed), and shivering in bed waiting for sleep to take over before HE came home and woke the house. At some point, my dear mom joined me in my bedroom to sleep at night. She was tired of being brutalized and hurt, physically and emotionally. Not that being locked in a bedroom kept things quiet. No. Yelling, throwing things, stomping and all sorts of things happened that scare kids.

It took me a long time to trust men and realize that not all men are like my father. I married the dearest man alive that has proved it to me. It also took me a long time to not be afraid of the dark. I slept with night lights, flashlights and often some sort of weapon (a stick, baton or other battle-worthy object) for protection.

That man, biologically my father, will not take a hold of my life. He is not going to make me afraid anymore or weigh down  my soul. I suppose I have forgiven him, but mostly I have forgotten him. It isn't important really. He had a disease, if you want to call it that, and he suffered with it. Too bad he had to make so many others suffer along with him.

God, I hope the next blog idea is more enlightening!

Crazy Quilter

 

 

 

 

 

I want to share a sewing project that I'm pretty proud of. This is a sewing machine cover that I made for a SewCanShe contest earlier this summer using the crazy quilt method. I'm not much of a quilter...yet...and this was really fun to do. I didn't win anything in the contest (sob), but I did get this photo on the home page of SewCanShe!

Jeez, I'd love to have a follower. Anyone???

Movin' to Bloglovin'....big move for me!

Let's see if this works:

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10404125/?claim=9a43ab7qb9q">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

OK, so I'm making a half-hearted promise to myself to keep this blog updated with my musings of life. Let me forewarn that it's not all that a-musing! Still, I want to share my thoughts, projects, disappoints and minor details publicly. Whoa! Yes, I really said that. My priority is to keep each post upbeat and not lag on the downers in life. There's enough of that crap to go around.

My latest passion, er, obsession...

OK, since I quit my teaching job last June ('12), I have become great friends with  my Viking Ruby sewing and embroider machine. I have rekindled a love of sewing and new-to-me, embroidery! I have so many projects that I want to complete,, I don't think I'll live long enough. Many times I feel guilty spending so much time up in my sewing room that I try to avoid it all together. There are always closets to straighten, dust bunnies to chase, streaky floors to clean...but when I get near that machine, I lose all thought of the "supposed to's" in life.

Here's my latest project: I found these super bath towel wraps at Kohl's on clearance for only $5.99 each. Plus, I had a 30% off coupon which took it down to...well, almost nothing. I first tested my idea with just a "K" on my purple wrap. It worked swell, so I went on to applique my daughter's, then did another for the neighbor girl who's going away to college soon. I love them!

Meet Our New Furry Kid!

Trixie! Oh what a joy she is!

New life, new me!

It's crazy how long it's been since I was on here. I was damn near out of my mind at that time.

So what's been happening? First off, I quit my teaching job. It wasn't good for me. The stress, the long hours, the lack of appreciation, the headaches with behavior and PARENTS, the un-ending pile of papers to corrects and always, always more tasks to be responsible for. Do I miss it? Hell NOOOO! It's been almost a full school year since I've been out and not a day goes by that I don't think about some aspect of it. Earlier on, I asked myself constantly if I did the right thing by quitting. I mean, it's not a thing that someone does around here. Being a part of the public school district is one that is highly desirable and is usually a career, life-long job. It's almost unheard of to QUIT, like I did.

This past year, I've gotten to know myself better and I feel like a happier, better adjusted person. I strive to make the world a better place. To do kind deeds, to be helpful, to listen, to pray, to be a friend. I've read more books, cooked more meals, cleaned more of my house, picked up my sewing skills, learned to knit, painted a few house interiors, and taken a few more trips. It's wonderful, this life that I live now. Lucky for me, I have a wonderful husband who allows me these privileges. He's much happier seeing me happy and not so stressed.

I'm still open to a possible part-time job, but it's definitely go to be one that means I can leave at the end of the day w/o work to take home. Low stress, fun work environment and great people to work with are high priority. Does such a job exist?

Does anyone read this blog besides me? Leave a comment and let me know! Maybe I'll pop in here and post more often!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Wow. So much has changed since my last post. I had really hoped to journal my thoughts and emotions here while I was "changing". I guess I'm not a girl that will stick with blogging, but will give it a luke-warm go.
Well, the biggest change is that I resigned from my teaching job a few weeks ago. With so much stress and the eternally long hours for 9 months at a time, I figured it just wasn't worth it. Life is too short to feel that miserable. At one time, I felt like teaching was my God-given vocation in life. Many years, I felt good about it and really had fun with it. The last few years I began to dread it and really felt bitter about it. I still love kids (most of them) and love the interaction of teaching, but not under the circumstances of 30+ kids in a room, strict curriculum that must be followed, undependable administration, and hovering parents. I asked God for signs and He gave them. It was my time to go.

So, what do I do now? God holds the answer! I have no idea where my path will go. For now, I am doing my usual summer things of organizing, cleaning, gardening and reading. Summer naps are good too. I've been doing a lot of praying too. God knows that I need Him to show me the way.

Enough for now. Maybe when I come back in another 6 months, I'll be able to say where that path led me.