marginalia

Well this week has not really been all that I had hoped for. In fact, in many ways, it has been the oppostie of what I had hoped for. But there were a few highlights, so let's just get the bad stuff out of the way first. Cold pricklies before warm fuzzies, as it goes at SMA evening meeting...

* I didn't get the IslandWood job. This was such a hard blow. After my interview going so well, and the hiring date pushed back to a time I could accomodate, I really thought I had this one. I was told that there was a new coordinator hired and that time was needed for her to settle in before a decision was made. That seemed totally reasonable. Then, three days later, bam. Gone with someone else. Apparently they are looking to have a more diverse balance of personalitites on their team, and I didn't fit the niche they had open. /sigh. This is the second career job I've applied for at IW, my old home in the woods, and the second I've been interviewed for and then ultimately turned away. I think this may be my last; it's a little too painful to get my hopes up, try to impress people who already know me (and who mentored me through my own graduate education) and then come up short every time.

* I didn't get the West Seattle middle school job. I went in on Thursday (the day after I found out IW had passed) to do a sample lesson. I thought the lesson went great: I saw good facial feedback from the observing teachers; the kids were super engaged. After the lesson, I had lunch with the other middle school teachers and the Assistant Head, and as they discussed the logistics for the upcoming year's schedule, I really felt like I was a part of the team and that we were working together like normal (instead of like an interview). Alas, I was wrong. I got the e-mail yesterday and it pretty much shattered my day. I was devastated. I think my anger/hurt/disappointment was really compounded by the loss of the IW job just a few days prior.

It took Andrew coming home and focusing his love and attention on cheering me up yesterday that finally brought me out of my funk. I feel sorry for everyone else I encoutered yesterday - I am sure I was miserable. The fact is, I'm back to square one. I don't have any other leads. If it were January, that would be one thing. But it's April, and our move is in three months. I know that it will be okay - it has always been okay - but I wish it were okay now. Today feels a little better, but (aside from this writing) I'm avoiding thinking about it.

* (this is so minor in comparison to those first two!) I made a crappy shirt.

Okay, so I admit that here it really doesn't look so bad, but in comparison to my desires and expectations going in, it's sort of a mess. The armholes are too large because instead of cutting a size to match my waist measurements, I cut a size to match my bust measurement, which is a classic novice sewing error. Since my bust is a bit large (ha) proportionally to the rest of my body, the rest of the shirt is bigger than it should be (armholes, shoulders, waist, etc). I tried to adjust it, which certainly helped a little bit, but you can't really un-cut holes.

I also don't love the sleeve-ettes. I feel a little like I have wings, or football pads. Andrew has suggested that I remove them and just have it be a sleeveless-vest-type shirt. I think he's right. But for now the shirt is in a pile in my craft corner, collecting dust.

But now...

The Good Stuff! Warm Fuzzies FTW!

* I made an awesome dress!

The Sew Weekly challenge for this week was to incorporate the Pantone Spring 2012 pallete. I worked really hard on this dress: I diligently selected a pattern that matched something I knew I would wear, I spent over an hour finding affordable fabric that fit the colors, I hand-traced all the pattern pieces out of a pattern magazine, did a full bust adjustment (thanks, shirt learning-curve), made a muslin, made adjustments to the pattern from the muslin, and then made the dress. Whew! It took me probably around 16 hours total, from start to finish, which I think is actually really good.

Then Andrew and I went out in the sunshine (which quickly left, boo) to take some pictures. I'm really happy with this dress and it makes me much more confident about my upcoming project (another dress). I think when I go slowly and give myself enough time, I can put together cute things.

* My grandpa is moving to rehab! After what seems like an endless amount of time in the hospital, my grandpa has finally been stable enough long enough to move to a rehab facility. My mom is there now making sure the move goes well. It is such a relief to know that he's moving forward in progress instead of having small things go wrong over and over again. Huzzah!

* And today is a day off. I surely need it. My to-do list is stacked pretty high, but that's usually a good thing for me and so I hope it will be for today as well. Forward movement. As Alice says to the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon: "it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

 

This week, I announced to the students that I wouldn't be back this year. I ended up making the announcement 4 times: dorm group, all dorm, Yellow Ties, all school. (My poor Yellow Fairies heard it all 4 times!) The girls were really sweet, of course sad (as I am) but also excited for me and excited to be my "real" Facebook friend (instead of my school account).

The fact that I won't be back next year now becomes much more real. I had a 2nd interview with a Seattle middle school today and I felt it went really well. There is a candidate coming to school tomorrow to interview for my spot, and she'll be teaching 30 minutes of my class. It's March 15, so in three months, this'll all be done. That sounds like a long time, but I know from experience that it'll fly.

I have some crafty things to post, but I'm going to wait until this weekend to get them up looking good. For the time being, here are my pictures from the College Trip. 7 days, 10 colleges. I ended up only getting pictures of 7 of them, twice for forgetting my camera and once because it was a long day and I was exhausted.

(thanks, George Eliot.)

If you already saw this in your e-mail, forgive me for the double dose. For the rest of you...

As someone walking in the 3-Day and soliciting donations for that cause, I wanted to address the recent issue between Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood. When I heard that Komen was removing funding for Planned Parenthood, I was outraged. I sent letters to the team coaches at the 3-Day as well as to the head of Komen. I signed petitions at every opportunity I could and I removed the 3-Day from my Facebook. I refused to fundraise for the event until the decision was revoked.

As you know, the decision was revoked and Planned Parenthood's current grant and eligibility for future grants remain intact. Karen Handel, the former Komen Senior VP of Public Policy (known for being anti-Planned Parenthood), resigned her post at the beginning of February. Although these are positive forward steps, I am still cautious and am watching the news carefully.

Still, there is a fight to be won, and I continue to believe that I can be a part of that fight. But in order to do that, I need your help. My fundraising goal for November is $2300 and I'm already at $330. I have some big plans for the summer, but would love to come into June with $760 already in - that'd be a third of the way to my goal!

If you're still unsure about donating, let me know and we can talk about it more. Otherwise, head on over to my personal page to donate! And don't forget about matching gift programs with your employer - simply ask your HR or finance folks about matching gift programs to double your donation!

I really appreciate all of your support and hope that you're having a fantastic March.

Peace,

Crysta

And thank goodness.

Winter has never been my best season. Although Christmas is a joy, the time between Dec 26th and the beauty of spring in full bloom is too long to be borne without some complaining. I don't like cold, I don't really like percipitation (unless viewed safely and warmly from my window), and as much as I love a cute coat or well-chosen scarf, I'd give them up if it meant I never had to wear them again.

Luckily, this winter has been moving along fairly quickly so far. I spent most of January and almost all of February living in the future - June or July when Andrew and I pack up and move to Seattle. Although it's far too early to choose a place, I've been researching the crap out of it and it has slowly driven me mad. This past weekend, we went to Seattle and actually looked at a few buildings/apartments and I declared on the way back that I have to stop thinking about this right now. I have an apartment. It's cute. I have a job. It's work. And I have a life. It's a good one. Living in July was really dragging me down. Somehow, surprisingly, it felt better to live in February.

But I can wish for nicer days, right? The type of days that ripen the citrus that grows from the trees in your yard? Well, my psuedo-in-laws have those days, and on a recent visit to Seattle, they brought a giant bag of citrus to share. Pounds of blood oranges and pounds of my new favorite, Meyer lemons.

Yesterday, I made blood orange marmalade, using Marisa's instructions over at Food in Jars.

I was nervous; although last summer I had success with the raspberries, I still remember the strawberry jam-turned-sauce debacle (especially since there are so many jars of evidence in my cupboard). Time passed and the oranges were "simmering" but nothing really seemed to be happening. Then I used my brain - to turn to jam, this needs to evaporate, and quickly. So I turned up the heat, removed the lid for good, and watched it go. And go it went. It may have even set TOO much. Is that possible?

So I spooned it into jars, tightened their lids, and processed them for 10 minutes in the hot water bath. Andrew sampled when he got home from work and declared the project a success! (Note: I do not like blood oranges. I didn't know this before I started.)

Then, I played with the camera a bit. Why not, right?

Perhaps being locked into my apartment for days at a time (since I don't want to go outside in the cold/wet) makes me a bit loopy. And I'm no fool: just because we're almost through February doesn't mean we're close to spring. There's at least a month (that's being hopeful) left. Will it be raining and cold on May Day this year like it was last year? Only time will tell.

Get movin', winter. You've made your point.

Apparently. 

In an attempt to mitigate some small health issues, I'm cutting out sugar and yeasty products for a month.

This is day three. I'm in hell.

Think about what you eat during an average day. Is there bread? Is there potato? Is there sugar? Beer?

Aside from cheese, that's basically all I eat. So this has been difficult.

Last night, Andrew and I went out for happy hour with some friends, as usual. I had a gin and tonic. Andrew had melted cheese toast (it's like bruchetta that's warmed up and so good I dream about it); Darse had sweet potato fries, and Joe had more cheese toast. mreh.

This morning, I went up to the grocery to grab a quick breaky before heading to the coffee shop for work. (I knew that the cafe would only have bready-sugary-deliciousness so I didn't even think of getting something there.) I wandered through the fruit aisle. Hrm. Cereal. Right out. I finally settled on a string cheese, but it was a very challenging moment.

I know I'm complaining here. I've already eaten more vegetables in the past two days than I probably have in the past week, and I'm drinking SO much water. And so far I do feel better. (Perhaps it's psychosomatic but I'm okay with that if it works.)

But here's something cute:

I made that skirt myself! It was a real trial in my sewing career (shiny expensive silk brocade, incredibly slippery black polyester, a bazillion pieces) but came out so awesome. No one guessed I made it. And look at those pockets! I debuted it (and created it for) our Lunar New Year celebration. 

Today I made a white t-shirt, which was my first time sewing with knits (and it was the bounciest, drapiest knit in the world). I have a skirt I want to make to go with it, so the blog debut will have to be later. (I am wearing it today under a sweater just to test for funny fit.)

I am having one of those days where nothing big happens, but lots of tiny little things go wrong and eventually you find yourself near tears staring into your kitchen and wondering why in the world everything sucks. So in an attempt to not validate those feelings by articulating them, I'm sharing with you my first project to jump back into the world of sewing: a cozy cape!

I have joined the amazing community at The Sew Weekly as a contributor. This means that every week a challenge is given, and I can step up to the challenge by making a garment that matches the challenge. I then upload my story and pictures to the site, where all the contributers can see it, and (possibly) it can be picked for the main site! This wasn't picked last week, but many of the other contributors (whom I completely admire) left me really nice comments. Awesome!

The challenge was buttons, so I made lined plaid outerwear with buttons that are too big for my automatic buttonhole foot on my sewing machine. To sum up: I went way overboard.

But really, it came out so cute!

I decided to do button tabs instead of toggle closures. I am going to shorten the tabs, though - with them being as long as they are, there's a space between the front sides, which means cold air gets in and the whole thing lays a little floppy on my shoulders. What's the point of putting in shoulder shaping seams if they aren't on my shoulder? Right.

I'm not participating in the challenge this week, but am trying to make a silk brocade skirt for our Lunar New Year celebration tomorrow night. This skirt is part of the aforementioned misery so I won't go into it here. But maybe soon I'll have a victory story to share!

Happy Year of the Dragon! Stay warm!

Last night, the snow finally came. Six inches! School was canceled, much to the delight of the girls. Chrissy and I are both on duty today, so it's still work work, but we did manage to get outside for a little snow fun. Andrew joined us.

 

I know, we're cute right? Except - moments before this, Andrew wrapped his arms around me. Cute? No. Dangerous. For those of you who don't know this already, I don't like being wet when I'm supposed to be dry. So you can imagine my feelings about snow. Luckily, Chrissy captured my worry:

 

The best thing about this picture is that it is so much more indicative of who me and Andrew are than that first one. Looooooove.

Happy snow day!

The hilarious and talented writer Stephanie Pearl-McPhee documents the prevalence of a disease common amongst crafters in January. Maybe you've heard of it?

It's Startitis.

The major symptom of this disease is the compulsive tendency to start new projects - many new projects - WAY more than you're legitmately able to complete at one time.

I've done my best to stay strong in the face of a strong Startitis wave, but I haven't been completely immune.

In fact, I've broken out the ol' sewing machine. I can't give all the details now, but I'll leave you with some teasers:

This is the fabric:

 

And it will have at least one of this button:

 

Now, off to start something new... Oops!

I really like the new year. Not so much for the New Year's Eve of it all - I am of the sound opinion that it's never as good as I'd like and it could go away without a tear from me - but more for the idea of fresh starts and some sort of rebirth. Although my life has progressed much more along school years than calendar years, I still try to take some time to make the flip from December to January a starting point.

This plant started as a leaf in a paper towel. It flew across the country as my carry-on. I left it out in a car in freezing weather, reducing it to two pitiful sticks in dirt. When it seemed to resurrect, I accidentally broke off a huge stem trying to repot it.

And now. This beast. It even flowered earlier in the fall.

MIRACLE!

(Let the wine bottle be your size guide.)