Two hour nap! Bliss! Answered some emails that came in (one wanting to know would I have enough kids sign up that Kinder actually makes in the fall - umm, yes; the bigger question is, how early will it fill up?). Going to go start fusing figures - allowing myself 45 mins to an hour (1 CD) to work on that, and will snack/rest after until time to tutor (I've learned I need a "buffer zone" before tutoring, I can't go straight from one "work" thing to that, or my mind is frazzled).

okay, school prep is done, bag is ready for tonight, I've checked in on all the kids who are up and they are all on track - time for me to squeeze in that nap! I'll need it with the long day ahead!

praying for your friend, @mom31257; that sounds so difficult!

Feel better, @ScoutTN! I hope the cold leaves soon! My day today -- ...coffee ...make sure everything is ready for the class expo tonight ...school prep for Monday ...start fusing the figures to the quilt top ...get a nap! ...make sure everyone else is doing everything they are supposed to be doing ...go tutor this afternoon (unless the mom comes to her senses & cancels - yesterday was a disaster! All the girls could think about was leaving to go see the new baby & mom at the hospital....) ...drop DH off at a Starbucks, so a friend can pick him up for fencing ...go to my class expo ...go to fencing for the afterwards hang-out ...come home, collapse into bed Hopefully the day is more restful than I think....:yawn:

Can you instill a limit to how many make-ups are allowed w/o prior notice? Something like "each student is allowed (2? 3? 4?) make-up sessions per semester, regardless of notice, because I'd rather not get sick and pass those germs on! Once that limit has been reached, make-ups may only be scheduled with permission from the instructor &/or in cases where 24 hr notice was given prior to the missed class. It disrupts the instructors time and schedule to have last-minute no-shows, so after the (1st? 2nd? 3rd?) no-show without *any* prior notice (1 hr minimum), students will need to pay for the missed class as well as the make-up class." Something like that, anyway. Sounds like a conundrum, for sure!

All the electronic chores done, No way on earth I'll get to the quilt today (ha!), so packing the fencing bag, then lunch/look over books while I watch an episode of Grey's before I go tutor.

Home from co-op, now have a mini-list before tutoring: ...maybe some coffe?? No time for a nap ...update my homework page ...send the parent email ...check my calendar, see if my Friday kiddos owe money or not (grandma is asking) ...check on everyone here, see if Middle will cook dinner tonight ...call and schedule a haircut for DS ...call a new dentist, see if they take our insurance; if yes, make appts for DH & DS ...look over the books that came in, figure out a rough schedule/just go in order/targeted pages? for tutoring ...snack/eat lunch ...pack the fencing bag in case we go to fencing tonight ...figure something for dinner if Middle won't cook Middle is cooking, so I don't have to do this ...if by any chance there is time between those things and the tutoring today, start fusing the figures to the quilt top ...go tutor (if no one from the family texts to cancel; the mom had her c-section yesterday, but insists grandma and such are home w/the kids, so still come) ....come home, see if we are/are not going to fencing (DH is at a conference, so depends if he can get away on time or not) ....eat dinner, veg out, etc. Happy Weds, y'all!

@ScoutTN, I hope you feel better and can get some rest. @mommyoffive, yes, parenting is the hardest thing! Prayers for whatever's going on. Hope things improve soon!

Finished all of the figures! Yay!!!! Dinner was good, watching TV, vegging out. Whew.

dinner is in the oven finished one figure, was going to start the next one but DS is asleep, so I can't double check the color for the tunic - will do that after dinner instead. It feels great to have it this far! I *think* that's everything??? No shopping w/Middle, but that was optional anyway. Maybe another day?

Clothes are folded, and the ones I'm responsible for are put away. Checked on all the children -- Oldest got hired for the summer job he wanted (yay!!), so texted that good news to DH. Got the main part of the quilt background made (a small border around the part that is mattress sized; will add the outer border to make it quilt sized later on). Checked school stuff - everything is set for tomorrow. Checked on Grandma - trip is going well so far! Grabbing a snack/taking a sewing break, and then I promise I will tackle making the figures.

napped (much needed) went down to check the mail & mail my aunt's card/invite - a package I was expecting (the mis-ordered, then corrected, order from last week) arrived -- they really did fix it and send the right size! Yay!!! Eating lunch/folding laundry now and *then* will get to the rest of the list.

Home - got the eggs, and some rolls & meatballs to add to dinner instead of the chx sausage. Gassed up my van. Picked up the pictures. Got home before DS came down to cook his breakfast. Yay! Measured his bed and his current quilt so I can figure out the quilt top thing. I think it will work well! Yay! Need to sit down and kind of draw it out to be sure the exact plan before I cut, but it should all work out. (the issue here is that the fabric I'm using only comes in 2 yd cuts, b/c they cut it into 2 yd sections before dyeing it; trying to decide if I needed extra added to the ends of that or not, or if keeping the 72" width (the length of the 2 yds) will be fine) Wool stuff is drying, and I'm debating to nap now, or later. :yawn:

Get some rest & feel better, @ScoutTN! --ordered some math books for both tutoring girls, w/free same day delivery --remembered to send and order prints for DS - our co-op does a senior table, so needed one for that, and some options for his senior board for graduation --sent an email I needed to send --feeding the birds, getting dressed, and will head out - grocery, gas, and by then the pics should be ready to pick up

Good morning, all! DH is off to a work conference all day today (and again tomorrow, but luckily it's local so home overnight) so I am up *early* even though I have the day totally off! Yay! So, what shall I do on my day off? So many things. ...coffee ...fold & put away laundry ...wash my wool stuff ...grocery store for eggs, b/c we forgot last time ...decide exactly how to put together the quilt top and do that (will be quick once I decide) ...create the next 2 figures/last 2 figures for the quilt ...start fusing the figures into place?? At least get them pinned in place? ...make sure everything is all set for tomorrow's class (should be, but double check) ...possibly take Middle to some resale shops near us (was offered as a "cheer you up" thing over the weekend; the need for cheering has passed, so we'll see if we still go or not) ...cook dinner tonight (roasted veggies, feta, and probably chicken-apple sausage as a sheet-pan meal) ...eat, veg out - DH will be home late (he has a dinner out at 5:30, that will likely easily go till 7:00, means he'll be home after 8:00 sometime...) ...go to bed If there's still time &/or during breaks from the sewing, get the kids to help me hang stuff, and remember to go mail my aunt's grad invite. Also, text with Grandma, she's heading on a road trip starting today w/a friend (friend is driving), so just keep up daily check-ins while she's out & about. Somewhere in there, take a nap. Oh! and order a book/find a book for tutoring kiddo who has requested a math book to work through vs. math worksheets.

Starting us off early....

Four down, two to go - stopping there for now. DS is pleased with the way everything is looking, so that's good. Going to help DH with shrimp for dinner, eat, relax, etc., and depending what all we do after dinner, finish up the last two. The background fabric is due to arrive tomorrow, which will give me all of Tuesday to work on piecing the background and start fusing the figures into place, so I'd like as much done as possible by then.

I did some digging on-line, and looks like the fencing thing should be fine -- another division had their qualifier the week before, and on the records-keeping website it shows "DNF (for did not fence), Name of Fencer, Qualified for Div 2, Div 3" *but* on the event listing website (where I'd looked earlier, b/c this event was not posted on the record-keeping website), that same one shows up as "Fencer Withdrew" -- *so* it should be good, and appears to just be a difference in how the one website reports things. Whew!! ate lunch, had a mini-nap, grocery shopped & went to the nursery with DH, and completed one minor character for DS's quilt. Taking a mini-break and onto the next one. Two down, four to go. Whew.

For general crafting (love the model train club idea for miniature specific!), check your neighborhood/city/county civic centers. Ours host craft days, etc. often (regular occurring ones, like every Weds, or every 3rd Sunday, or whatever). Your library may also offer that already. Does your area have an art league? They may have something similar. What about the hobby shops where you buy the materials? Often they have a bulletin board or similar with craft classes, groups, etc. posted - you may ask there.

first figure (main character) is done aside from details, which will need to be added once the background fabric is here, and it's fused to the background (so I don't overwork the fusible) eating, then heading to the nursery w/DH

Just wanted to add that many of the respectable merino wool clothing brands are sourcing non-meuslinged wool, &/or adding "where does our wool come from" pages, etc., in an effort to be as transparent & ethically-sourced as possible. So, it is possible to find ethical merino, despite the (still happening) bad practices of some farms/farmers/merino production.

Thanks! I'm sure it will be (and there is an appeal process if not) but it was a bit of a "ack! what on earth?!" moment this morning to see it listed like that. My coach said probably that's just how they entered it in one website, which automatically uploads to the other website, but will NOT be how they submit the official stuff. She's checking on it and I am sure will get it fixed - it affects everyone who went yesterday, so would be a LOT of people very upset if they do it wrong (including many fencers from the host fencing club, so they should have a lot of motivation to do it properly).

Have fun, @HomeAgain!! My day today: ...coffee ...make sure everything is all set for classes tomorrow (do I need to cut anything? etc.) ...go to the nursery w/DH, buy a bouganvilla the right color ...iron the fabrics for the applique figures ...get the main character transferred to the fabric ....get at least one more character transferred to the fabric (but as many as possible) ...check the size of things to see if I need to order more of one color that I got wrong when picking fabric (if so, order it) ....figure out a plan for dinner??? ....check on Grandma, see if she talked to Dad - she is going out of town w/a friend, and Dad was likely going to be annoyed by it ....if Dad is annoyed, talk to him today to talk him down ....check on the fencing non-tournament yesterday -- the one website, they listed the results as "fencer withdrew" -- if they leave it like that, we are all out of luck and won't show as qualified; I've contacted my fencing coach who is also division chair to make sure they correct it (she's checking on it) ....after dinner, watch something and relax until bedtime Have a good day, everyone!

Dinner was very late b/c DH & Middle ended up in a serious conversation (all is well; just some deep dad & kid talk). Once finally done, it was very good. Got the idea figured out for DS's grad board thing. Watching a (shorter) movie and heading to bed.

How very cool, @mom31257! What a fun thing for your dad to do and to have! @ScoutTN, glad you were able to get out into the sunshine as well! I'm popping in after a mediumly busy day. So far I have: ...fencing Divisional Qualifier, in which I did not have to actually fence b/c there were only 3 competitors, and the rules state that for anything from 3 to 12 competitors, the Top 3 Finishers all qualify. So, only 3, we were thus all "top 3" and thus automatically qualified. yay! (this is so I can fence Division 3 at Summer Nationals) ...regular fencing practice, where I did actually fence ...LONG nap, which was much needed ....sorted all the fabric for DS's quilt -- it was a big bag of many colors, now sorted by character and layered into a tin/bin/thing stacked in order of how I'd prefer to approach them DH & Middle are cooking dinner, so once that is done we'll eat, and then I think watch a movie (maybe?) afterwards. If we do not watch the movie, I'll work on ironing the fabric and getting figures cut and put on fabric (if we do watch the movie, I'll do that tomorrow) Also need to send pictures to be printed for DS's senior table/display board/etc. and plan that.