Thankful that the work week is over.

Opening the door this morning I was met by a cacophony of birds, their sweet song giving me energy.  Yesterday's frost on my car was replaced this morning by dew.  The overcast sky seemed to heighten the sounds and smells of spring.

Sitting on the porch after work I imagine finding my sleeping bag and trying to sleep out here.  Would my sleeping bag be warm enough?  How hard is the wood decking?  What would the neighbors think?  Oh, they have a back deck too.  The neighbors won't know if I sleep out on the back porch.  It won't happen.  My sleeping bag is at home and I am cat/house sitting.  But it was a lovely day dream.  At home there is no porch to sleep out on.

Since I am not at home I considered not going to craft night, just because it is farther away and I knew I would be tired.  Instead, I asked for a ride from a friend and she and her husband picked me up.  We stopped at a rest area for dinner.  There is a little shop there that sells handmade items, almost all are one of a kind.  They are also all over my current budget which probably shouldn't have included the tasty caprese sandwich I got for dinner.  Eating is important though, and I am not broke, just want to save more.  There were just enough people at craft night, around 10.  Busy, but not crowded and not too few people that conversation was a problem.  I worked a little on the apron I am smocking.  Well, I cut out everything that I had done so far that was in white (on white) and started over again with red.  I like the contrasting color much better.  There were a few pictures from a long time ago that were passed around on cell phones and some old stories too.  Time with friends and especially the car ride and conversation are my happy things for today.

☮

Storage

It has been a frigid, snowy winter and I have left my items in storage untouched.  Stopping by today I am reminded of the overwhelming task I have ahead of me to sort through and empty it-or at least downsize.  I pulled a few games out and the loom I have been looking for.  Weaving on my friend's loom a few weeks ago was fun, but working on my own project will be good.  A few things got moved around.  There are times when I find I can get rid of things easily, unfortunately those times are few and far between.  Today I looked at some things and thought I would want them if I am living on my own again-so keep.  Of course a hand mixer is important.  Sitting here writing this I am able to put into perspective the cost of a new hand mixer vs the cost of the storage unit.  I should make myself a poster for the storage area to remind myself that even the things that are important, if replaceable, can go away unless I can use them now.  The things that are personal and not replaceable and bring me joy are what can be saved.  A brief search led me to a website with this flowchart.  Coming up with a poster will be easier now.  😎

All that said, making it to the storage unit is my happy for today.  Even if only a for little bit, it was a productive thing to do. 

And how about this sunrise?

☮

Wednesday-closer to the weekend

For some reason that I can't remember I have on my calendar an alarm set to remind me 'Boston Anime Setup' for tomorrow through the weekend.  There is some remnant of a memory that is convincing me that this was a thought and not a commitment.  Since there is only a handful of people that I feel I could have spoken to about this I will be messaging them, to be sure.

This was travel writing class night. The homework I turned in did not come out how I wanted.  I tried to work it off the eye in Concord, but I missed the mark.  My homework for this week is to write about a negative travel experience.  My mind instantly goes to car break downs and children whining, or worse, vomiting in a Motel 6 somewhere in the Midwest.  This is not what the teachers have in mind.  Hopefully I will come up with something in the next day or two because I really want to get a head start on my homework.  When the teacher asked me to think of something that I liked from where I live I came up with Eagle Square.  My reason of imagining that it is a small courtyard outside a castle probably would make a great descriptor, but not a story.

Between work and class I swung home to print my homework and try to grab a picture of the eye, forgetting that it is only lit in the evening.  Hugs from Gideon and K are today's happy.

 The place where the eye would be.

Heather

☮

Puzzles-short

Perhaps I have made a step towards figuring out the puzzle, perhaps not.  Either way, it is today's happy.

Yesterday's puzzle-the way I found it:

What I did to it today... 

And then this. 

And yes, I was able to put that part back together.

☮

Ponyo-short

There is something about the pain involved in seeing a chiropractor that makes it all worth it when the aching stops.  The ache in my neck is not gone, but it is lessened since today's visit.

 Gideon, K and my cousin went to the movies tonight to see Ponyo subtitled.  Every so often there are special movies shown for a very limited time, see Fathom Events.  Tonight's was one of Gideon's favorites so he got to come out on a school night.   When it ended he was dancing in the theater to the theme song.  This is my happy for today.

I spent too much time fiddling with this 

and getting nowhere 

when I should have been getting ready for bed.

Cat sitting.

🙀

☮

Lazy Sunday-Just a happy

Ever try to randomly come up with a list of TV shows alphabetically?  At first, a multitude of images flow through the mind.  A, a show starting with A; All in the Family.  For B I will use Big Bang Theory.  And thus began the game of TV Tag Gideon, Z and I played today.  Gideon made up the rules.  It was kind of like regular tag.  When the person who was 'it' tagged someone they froze and remained so until they could come up with a name of a TV show (later, movie titles were added).  Then that person became 'it.'  We weren't supposed to repeat any titles which is why I decided to torture  myself by going alphabetical.  C, what show starts with C?  At this point Gideon had decided we could use movies too so I chose Call of the Wild.  For D, Dead Zone.  My B show is the only one I think Gideon might have heard of, the rest are so old I am not sure where in my brain I was able to pull them from; although I might have seen Archie Bunker come by on my Facebook feed recently.  Our walk and game of TV tag are my happy things for today.

Park path

The birds

☮

Saturday!!

Dreaming of a fictional world that was falling apart my daughter woke me up so I could go to see Gideon's car race in a pinewood derby with the Cub Scouts.   I started telling her about the dream so I could hold onto it just a little longer.   She woke me during an action scene. 

Gideon's car did really well.  He came in 5th place of 18 racers.  I'm not sure how much it changes as they get older, but these races are gravity driven. 

And then I went to an improv workshop, a walk,  dinner with friends and an evening full of improv.   So much fun.  It was a day full of happy things leaving me very tired and home really late. 

☮

Spreadsheets

At craft night I worked on a spreadsheet.  This seems to be a recurring thing for me.  It comes from being treasurer for so long I suppose.  Some people expect to talk to me about numbers.  I am okay with that.  Tonight someone came to craft night that wanted advice on a budget she is getting ready to present for approval.  The event site has raised their fee so we worked on the budget (which has a potential loss) and then discussed other options that might be available for this event.  So very little got done on the smocking I brought with me to work on.  I am okay with that too. 

There is so little that I can discuss about work, let me just say that school has had an eventful week.  With everything going on it the world it is no wonder.  That said, things could have been so much worse than they were and are tiny in comparison to the news makers.  I remain thankful for the job, the teachers and the students that make each day a new experience.  My happy things for today are the students who help when desks need to be moved, or chairs put up; the ones who ask how the adults are doing and seem to really want to know things, not just distract; and the ones who are different and just want to be heard.  🙋

Sunrise

☮

Trying

Yesterday I wanted to write about how much fun I had at the rink but I was too tired.  When I got home from work today I took a 20 minute power nap for energy.  That lifted the fog a little.   Work today was rather trying, so that nap helped close the door to some of that stress.  Today was the first day this week that I didn't have something extra to do, so I did dishes and stuff on the computer for a while before dinner and relaxed with the family a bit after dinner.  Had I not been so tired I could have gone to a craft night, but since I was tires so I am going to spend about 15 minutes crafting before bed. 
The Easter season is in the stores and tonight I opened a box of Junior Mints Pastels that I can eat.  I was good and only had what is considered a serving size and put the rest away for another time.  Junior Mints were a favorite of mine before I gave up chocolate, and this time of year I can have them. 

Sweet minty candies are my happy for today.

☮☮

Skating

It was less than five seconds that I looked at the video game that is playing on the TV.  Five seconds and the yellow eyes of the character will remain burned in my mind's eye like a hot iron on nylon.  I sit, willing myself to concentrate on writing.  To find words that have meaning and value.  I fall asleep...

Slowly I reminded my body how to ice skate.  Around in circles for close to an hour accumulated less than 1000 more steps on my pedometer (push, push, glide repeat) but I'm pretty certain I had a happy face unless I was checking on a fallen or struggling student.  Ice skating is my happy and sleep is what I need.

An after it was over selfie.

My confidence on the ice did not get high enough to take pictures while skating.

That is how a fell a few years ago while skating on the lake.

☮⛸

Happy Spring! -Poem included

This afternoon I tried to finish my homework assignment for the Travel Writing class.  It was really bad.  Words just weren't coming to me.  That has been happening a lot lately.  I took a walk, wrote a poem and asked K to help me edit the homework.  The walk helped a bunch and I would like to think that I could have edited it more myself, but she worked on it while I had my dinner.  She found all the spots that had been troubling me and probably a few more.  It is done and sent and I will learn how good or bad it is tomorrow at class.

Gideon had the hiccups tonight before bed and K, his mom, joked with him that his hiccups could be spread to others by giving them goodnight kisses.  I am now sitting here typing with the hiccups.  This is how old wives' tales get their start.  😅

That said, my happy for today is that I wrote a poem.  I've been feeling like my creative juices have been clogged in the drain lately and that I got bunches of words together to rhyme is a step in the right direction.

Warm Thoughts...

The first day of spring
Pink sky, sun setting
Boots along the street
Sound on the concrete

Dark snow melting black
A wet bare foot track
Cold’s still in the air
No shoes? Would I dare?

Not along this block
Summer I may walk
Bare feet on the ground
Making not a sound

Soft earth beneath me
Smell of a pine tree
Mud between my toes
Where a warm wind blows

I pull my hat down
Against the cold around
Dream of warmer days
Along greener ways

☮

Busy Monday-Just a Happy

It was after school D&D club day.  Enough students were absent that 2 of the 3 groups chose to not run their campaigns and do other things instead.  The dice were in a cabinet that I managed to break by trying to open it when it was locked.  Eventually I got it open, but I doubt I will try to lock it again.  At home my protege came by and we worked on updating some of the treasurer reports.  We hadn't received notice that an adjustment had been made in 2016 until last week, so we had to edit 2016 and 2017.  My happy is that we were able to get that accomplished and work on some other items before it got too late.  It can be very rewarding when all the numbers come together balanced.

The students noticed these earrings today.

My daughter made these a few years ago.

Yes it is a real Lego and will connect to its pair-

and other Legos.

☮

Weaving Day

About once a month a friend of mine has a weaving circle at her house.  People can come by and bring a portable weaving project or any other craft project to work on.  Yesterday I had a class in which I made a tape measure that goes along with a book that we were pretty sure they had and I was going to look through that today.  That, and do more of the smocking on the apron from another class I took yesterday.  We found the book and I helped my friend choose some colors for her next tablet weaving project.  She has some new tablet weaving books and is trying something different but it is a style I have done in the past and really enjoy.  We started talking about how the threads actually come together and the twists and turns that we put them through to become a piece of woven trim.  She has a loom that is set up to teach people on and I asked to use it.  I wanted to see what I had been trying to picture during our conversation.  I ended up weaving well over a foot on her practice loom.  There is also just over a page of notes that I want to get typed up so I can wrap my mind around it more. 

It has probably been close to, if not more than 30 years since I first taught myself to tablet weave.  I don't do it very often and have gone years when the kids were little that I didn't really even touch my loom other than to move it along with me from house to house across the country.  So I know how to do it, I am not always good at it but I can usually see, in my minds eye, at least some aspect of how it all goes together.  At least I though I could.  Today I analyzed the weaving I did and tried to picture it in more detail.  Kind of like one can know how chess pieces move across a board.  One can know that and know if they are putting a piece in jeopardy.  And then there is the next step of learning chess where one can predict a number of moves ahead on the board and that is the player that is more apt to achieve mastery of the game.  I don't expect to ever achieve the level of mastery in weaving that would be like the level of a master chess player.  I don't practice enough.  But part of me really wants to be able to put into words the math behind how the threads come together.  Parts of it seem so simple, but there is some part that I feel like I can see but can't quite put words to and that is the part I want to figure out. 

Different threads go through each of the 

4 holes in the tablet (also called a card).

Looking beyond my thumb in the picture are

letters that were woven previously by students.

A number of tablets are threaded (warped).

The cards are turned to produce a pattern. 

This band has 26 cards each with 2 blue

and 2 yellow threads of the cotton yarn.

The direction the tablets are turned, the way the cards are threaded

and the color, size and type of yarn

 can all make a difference as to how the pattern will turn out. 

The tablets can be turned individually or in groups.

A weft thread (yarn) is passed between the warps threads to hold it all together.

The brief explanations with the pictures is very basic to all that is happening.  I'm not sure why the nitty-gritty part of tablet weaving is currently what is energizing me more than creating an actual usable product right now but it is.  This intrigue is my happy for today.  Maybe tomorrow or Tuesday I will get the notes typed into a file with the pictures...

☮☮

St. Patrick's Day

There was a medieval event that my protege and I drove to today about 2.75 hours away.  There were other close friends there as well.  This event was themed mostly around weaving and the fiber arts.  There were 5 hours of classes and an hour for fantastic lunch.  I managed to find a class to go to for every period.  The first two I took were weaving related: warping a 4-harness loom and brocading.  The other classes were smocking an apron, making shoes and making a medieval tape measure.  All were very interesting and I feel like I learned a bunch.  

Six of us met for dinner after.  Good food and great company have left me exhausted.  There were many wonderful things today but I am choosing the warping class as today's happy.  For more than 5 years I have had a 4-harness loom waiting to warp it.  I have heard how hard it is to warp and that is takes so much time and I have read about it and some things have made it look like a long, hard process and some made it look complicated.  My brain kept asking me why it couldn't be done a different way that seemed easier and faster.  All these things gave me reasons (excuses) to not try.  Today the way my imagination thought it could be done was demonstrated and the fear I had fabricated has gone away.  Now I just need to find a place to actually be able to set up the loom and be able to use it.  Someday.

☮

March 16th--short

The desks in the science class today were rearranged.  They had been in groups so 4 people could sit together like at a dinner table.  We spread them out into rows instead.  The first class seemed so quiet it was almost scary.  By the last class of the day the students had found their voices.

This evening was a meeting of SCA folks for the local group.  It lasted much longer than they usually do.  After, my daughter and I went to Friendly's with some friends that we haven't seen in a while for ice cream.  Friends and laughter are my happy things for today. 

☮

The Ides of March--short

There is a craft night between work and home on Thursday nights that I keep trying to attend and for one reason or another, don't make it there.  Today I almost fell asleep in a class and decided that being up late (again) is probably a bad idea.  More specifically, driving late tonight will be a bad idea.  It is dinner time, I am home alone, and seriously considering eating and going to bed.  Then paying the consequences of waking up at 3 AM. 

Later... but I didn't.  I ate, did some treasurer stuff, played a little on the computer and finished making some earrings.  It is almost 9 PM and I am finishing this up and trying for sleep.  My happy for today is that K & Z are at a ballet tonight, Gideon took the time to give me hugs and kisses before spending the night with his other grandparents and I made my St. Patrick's Day earrings before St. Patrick's Day.  😊

Morning sky.

Newly made earrings

Don't look too close

I'm still new at this. 

☮

Pi Day

A while back I may have posted about signing up for a travel writing class.   Tonight was the first class.  One thing that I am not sure I really considered is homework.  Not that I didn't expect any, just that I didn't quite think about the time involved.  For some reason I didn't get a pre-class email that included some pre-class homework.  At the same time, the class was free and we don't get an official grade on anything.  I just find it kind of funny that I don't remember thinking about homework.  There was a writing exercise we did in which I decided that I don't write well under pressure.   This is obviously something I need to work on.  For this week though I will concentrate on getting the homework done.  The teachers are great.  K took a class with them, probably 10 ish years ago, while she was still high school age. 

For Pi Day. 

RIP Stephen Hawking.

The kids just told me about this video of someone pushing a police van out of the snow dressed as Elsa from the movie Frozen.   My favorite part is where he has a problem with keeping the skirts of the gown out of his way.  This is a problem I am familiar with.  This is my happy for today.  Dressing as a cold winter character during a winter storm in what was hopefully a safe way doing a good deed and having fun with it is a neat way to make people smile.

 Snow, 

that didn't get shoveled because the shovel was in the car,

in the city parking garage,

a 10 minute walk away, 

because snow means parking ban.

☮

Snow Day-short post

Yet another snow day for Gideon and myself.  Gideon will get to stay home tomorrow as well, I haven't heard about any delays or cancellations yet.  My day was spent mostly behind a desk working on spreadsheets for the SCA treasurer thing that I do.  Checking my email before I wrote this I discover that the file I worked on all day can't be opened by my superior so I need find a different program to use.  😞  

Before most of the snow fell I moved my daughter's car and paid for our cars to be in the parking garage for the day.  It was a cold walk home but I took the long way and played some Pokemon Go along the way.  Getting that little bit of exercise in and finding left over pancakes to heat up when I got home are things I am happy for today.  I'll need an early morning tomorrow if I am going to get to the car and get to work on time.  

 ❄❅❆ ☮ ❆❅❄

BLT

New snow falls to replace the drip, drip of the old snow melting from the roof.  March is a fickle lion with snow melt one day and storm the next.  This moment is that in between part as the storm of tomorrow rolls in over today's almost springlike weather. 

Tomorrow was to be a professional development day at my school but they canceled, due to weather, at lunch time.  K has yet to hear whether Gideon's school will cancel or not.  I have mixed feelings about another snow day.  At this point the last day for staff is June 27th.  This is using up all the allotted snow days, plus one for tomorrow's professional development day.  So one less day of pay now will be one more day of pay for the summer.  Looking at the positive! 

Dinner tonight was one of my favorites, BLT's.  Not the healthiest meal, but a tasty one and my happy for today.  When I was a kid I used to love salt pork.  I have yet to encounter salt pork as an adult that tastes anything like what I remember as a child, but my dad called me the 'salt pork kid'.  When we traveled and would stop to eat at a restaurant I would always want a BLT, no mayo, not toasted.  That is still how I like them.  Although I am better than I was, I'm still a picky eater.  😶  It gets in my way sometimes. 

☮

No Real Spoilers

The family went to the movies today and saw A Wrinkle in Time (Official Trailer).  We all enjoyed it.  It has been a while since I read the book so I won't comment on how close or different it was.  I know there were some major changes, which I am sure they felt necessary, to bring the story into the 21st century.  It was originally published in 1962-over 50 years ago.  In conversation with my daughter after the movie we discussed a trailer that includes a deleted scene (Official Trailer #2) and thought it was odd that a scene from a trailer would be deleted.  We also felt that it was a rather important part of the story line.  Some of the costumes were fantastic and if I did cosplay (or Halloween) I now know which movie I would choose from. 

Earlier this morning I walked to the gym.  I finally got stuff organized enough to see how long it takes me to shower there and determined that more organization is needed. 😏 Unfortunately when I got home from the movies I sat down and didn't end up with my step count for the day.  I did try to be productive by doing some things with the SCA Regional Treasurer stuff that I do, but made little progress. 

Seeing the movie is my happy for today.  I will need to reread the book soon so I will be able to note the discrepancies.  There was a trailer that played before the movie for Ready Player One which is another book I have been thinking of reading.  🕮 

☮ 

Gideon Vlog

The alarm went off this morning for me to go to work.  I snoozed it and then remembered that it was Saturday and slept at least another 2 hours.  My daughter, K, made Cream of Wheat for breakfast with toast and it helped to start the day off well.  Gideon had a birthday party to go to after lunch at Flipz.  Since K hasn't been feeling well and Z works on Saturday, I got to bring him.  He had a blast.  Me?  I didn't know anyone there so just watched the kids play and had small talk with a parent or two. 

In the early evening we went to the store for dinner supplies and I walked home to get myself some steps.  I didn't think I was going to get them in but I got a return call from my son, C, and I walked back and forth while we talked and made my step goal.  He is doing great in Texas.  Getting to talk with him is my happy for today.  We play Minecraft together sometimes, but there isn't as much conversation there. 

Gideon is bunking with me tonight so we made a Vlog:

 Snowflake.

 Trampoline!

            ☮

          ☮     ☮

         ☮         ☮

Friday!

Science class today and Wednesday included a lab in which the students roll dice to determine who lives, dies and reproduces to simulate natural selection.  Nearly every student chose the large, over sized dice over the regular sized or the bouncy, quiet foam dice.  It sounded like a bowling alley in Science today.   🎳 😃

After work I met a friend at the mall for walking.  The display windows are set up to sell summer attire.  According to one site I just looked at, we got around 15 inches of snow yesterday.  It snowed while we were walking.  Spring has yet to arrive.  The sun was shining when we left though!  🌞

Tonight was the local craft night.  K still isn't feeling great so I went by myself.  I tried doing some pulled thread embroidery.  The book I used was a little bit hard for me to follow.  Most likely this is my fault as I wanted to just get started.  I did read more than I usually do and didn't just look at the pictures.  The results aren't what I expected.  This is quite possibly the materials I am using as well as not really knowing what I am doing.  The pictures in the book seem to be using a much looser weave.  My pictures below.

Sunrise and snow covered world.

This is the first that I tried.

The horizontal stitches are the new ones I tried.

The smaller ones have been "pulled."

 These are using the looser weave.

The pictures in the book were much more open looking.

Happy today was getting to walk with my friend and reaching my step goal for the day.  

☮

Lazy Snow Day-just a happy

It was a snow day so I spent my day being lazy or doing chores.  There were also a couple of walks thrown into the day to take care of the cars in the parking garage.  The walk this morning is my happy.  There was a beautiful dog that looked at me and asked me to pet him.  I broke a rule and pet him before the owner knew I was there.  Although, he must have heard me coming, I don't think he realized I was going to pet his dog.  He smelled my hand and leaned in to be pet.  His name was Woody.  He was big, black and beautiful with brown eyes that seemed to look into my soul and know I needed a little doggy love today.  🐕

Snowing on the capitol building.

That is a horrible picture of me!

My glasses are covered in drops of snow and 

I am wishing I had taken the time to find my other hat. 

Just a little bit of snow on the sidewalk. 

 ☮