Pile of Projects

I have said for the past few years that I am turning into my grandmother in my early twenties.  And I just can't help myself.  I tidied up my sewing room today and did a little rearranging.  I have 5 quilts that need to be quilted and 4 more that are in various stages of completion...  That's not even counting the I Spy Quilts that I have a center square ready for embroidery...there's another 4, and two different sets of scraps that I have ideas for.  And an apron to put a waistband on.  And I feel like I could go on...  because I have loads of embroidery blocks I've bought over the years.

Hobby Lobby opens in Marshalltown on Monday.  It's 30 seconds away from work.

I love getting started on a new quilt.  I love fabric shopping or just rooting around in my scraps for an idea of what to do next.  I get started really well.  I cut, sew blocks, get everything laid out, and then I start to slow down.  The end of each quilt is near.  The closer I get to the end, it's sometimes harder for me to keep going.  I love quilting, but sometimes I don't want to be done with a quilt because I know it could take a while before I get another quilt in.  It's weird, I know, but it's like a door getting shut when I put that last stitch in place.  I get a little bi-polar with completing a quilt, because when it's done I'm so excited!  I love showing Grammy and dangling it in front of my friends in hopes of a new baby coming soon.

Bonnie, pre-cleaning on a pile of baby quilts.

I got a load of old quilting magazines from the other Jean, Grammy's best friend and quilting partner.  This isn't helping my pile either...  I didn't find many projects, but I did find a couple I've marked.  One article had the perfect quote that describes by bi-polar attitude towards finishing a quilt.

A quilt in progress is a constant companion, but the pain of letting each one go at the completion is eased by the excitement of beginning a new one.

The pile I'm currently working on will be completed before I know it, and replaced by a new pile of colors and seams stitched together while I watch I Love Lucy or a Disney movie, and getting some love from Bonnie.  Evey quilt I've made since we've had her has had just a little bit more love.

Just Right

How many times I've said 'just right' this week, I don't know if I could count.  We've been reading folktales/fairy tales, and this week my focus was Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  You know the drill, big bowl/chair/bed-too hard, medium bowl/chair/bed-too soft, small bowl/chair/bed-just right.  I feel like that is how my journey and now our journey has been to find a 'just right' church.

I grew up in a small church where everyone knew who I was and watched me grow up.  I grew up going to church, singing hymns with the sun shining in through the windows, and getting loads of handshakes and hugs. 

Then I went to college.  I was in for culture shock my first few Sundays, and I never really adjusted to the big church idea.  There were multiple locations and multiple services in one church, so many on the pastoral staff, and just sooooo many people.  This works for some people, but not the introvert, old fashioned girl that I am.  I just never felt very comfortable, or excited for church because I never found the one that was just right for me.

Then student teaching started and I went with the Abrahamson's to their church which had a branch in Cedar Falls.  This was a whole new bit of culture shock because of the video pastor from the main church.  This was way bizarre for me!  And church was held in an old theater,so there were no windows for the sun to stream in.  Again, it was a huge church, and I didn't know that many people.  Again, it wasn't just right for me.  Dustin started coming to it with me too when we started dating, but he kind of felt the same way I did.  It wasn't just right for us.

Finally, for a while, our lives have slowed down a bit and we are at home more weekends than we are away.  We were finally able to try a church closer to home, and much more like the church setting that I've been searching for.  Dustin had been invited many times before we met, and we finally took up the invitation.  It's the small crowd type of church.  There are plenty of hugs and handshakes.  There is sunlight streaming through the windows.  There are hymns.  We both feel so happy at this church.  After many months of praying off and on about finding a church, we have found one that is just right for us.  I am so excited to continue to attend, and someday raise our babies in this church.  It has been a long time coming and quite a season of change, but it feels good to have found a new home church that is full of believers, loads of fellowship, and just a short drive down the road.

Not An Excuse

January started out pretty tough, and it's still a struggle at points, but then again, that's kind of how life goes, isn't it.

The last three weeks I have not been myself.  I have a 5 year old student that has been in the Children's Hospital and has since been sent home under the care of Hospice.  What a blow.  And the worst part was that the majority of these phone calls happened at 8am.  Not the ideal start to the morning.  My husband's goal at night was just to make me laugh, after holding me while I bawled my eyes out and cried my throat practically hoarse.

Please do not get me wrong.  I love my job.  I just wish that I didn't have to do it.  What I mean is simply every parent's wish for their child.  I wish that my students were able to lead healthy lives.  I wish that all my parents didn't have to worry about things like Hospice, or teachers contacting their doctors for input.  I wish my students were able to tell us why they get angry, frustrated, or when they just want/need to be alone.  I wish my students were able to tell their parents they are sick of the fish sticks that get sent nearly every day...and that they are yucky (and that the teachers hate the smell of them...).  I wish my students could tell us they don't feel good, or are tired, or miss their absent parent.

With all this being said, I don't let these things become an excuse for my students.  We push our kiddos.  We push them just enough that is challenging.  We want them to use their communication devices, because they can't outright say, "I'm sick of these stupid fish sticks!"  We give them so many opportunities to work hard and be pushed, but we also have so many moments of fun.

With one of our girls, a fellow classmate kept saying my student wasn't able to do what the rest of the group was doing.  It has been our goal all year to keep showing this girl that our students are able to do the same thing, even if they have a different way of doing it. 

My students can still do so many of the things that gen. ed. kiddos can do.  They just do it differently.  None of us let our students get by with much.  We keep the high expectations in the room and the excuses at the door, no matter what my students are labeled as.