my pink life, mi vida rosada

Anyone else as surprised as I am, that here, at the end of February, I am actually still getting things done? The finishes are coming a little slower, as I'm taking a large portion of my kid-free time to focus on job-related stuff -- a revamped resume, lots of applications, and the occasional interview.  I'm in the process of deciding whether to return to the classroom or to step aside in favor of a different path, and it is lots of hard feelings to reconcile about money and time and values and legacy.  I'm treading as carefully as I possibly can, trying to explore my options without limiting my options, but the timelines for different types of jobs are a complicating factor, as finding a good teaching job should be done now, but finding a good office type job maybe should be done closer to the start of the school year, when I'm actually hoping to return to work. But there are still some finishes....I think. Some more mending.  It seems to be coming out of the wood...

I made Easter basket liners!  For all three babies!  And they have their names on them, and I used up some things that have been in my stash....I bought zero things for this project, which feels great.  I'm mostly happy with the result -- I combined a bunch of tutorials found online, and the only thing I'd really do differently if I did it again (but I probably won't have any reason to do it again....) would be to put the pleats around the curve/at the end away from the handle of the basket.  I'm not taking them apart and re-making them, because....DONE is better than perfect. I'm inching ever closer to finishing the stars quilt -- bit by bit, it is getting done. I also tackled a pile of mostly-finished UFOs, and have had a few (new) items need mending.  To my dear sweet hubby: I'm so sorry it took me over a year (maybe 2?) to finish hemming your pants.  It is totally ridiculous and unreasonable that I let them sit in the closet, pinned and ready to ...

More progress on the getting it done front: 1. Bows, sewn on the new panties for miss middle, who uses the bows to tell which side is the front when dressing.... 2. New thread purchased for the long-term hand-quilted quilt, for which I ran out of the two spools of thread I had been using.  3. A quiet book for miss middle, started over a year ago and now FINISHED.  Many fun activities to quietly occupy her in church or at the doctor's office or anywhere, really, that she needs to be sort of still and mostly quiet when we are out and about.  I have also applied to a variety of jobs, some that I am qualified for and some that I am not....but a friend recently made the comment to me, about job searching, that a lot of the time, it isn't so much meeting the exact requirements of a job search and is much more about displaying the confidence to do the job....so fingers crossed, and we'll see what happens.  I find job searching to be a lot of...

I am still getting things done!  I feel a little bit proud of myself, for sticking to it, and for putting the phone down at least some of the time, and getting some real things accomplished. I gave up some of my few precious hours of child free time last week to work on a very important project: finding a job outside of the home for next school year.  Two fantastic possibilities on the horizon....If you are the praying sort, please pray that the decision be very clear, relatively easy, and that once I make the decision, I not be filled with regret and second thoughts. I've created a wall hanging to remind myself of ten different things I can do instead of using my phone.  It is above my work table, and hopefully will continue to remind and inspire me to get things done instead of wasting time on social media. It is certainly not perfect, but it is finished.  And I'm going for finished these days -- well done, rather than perfect, and complete, rather than...