Where has the week gone! I sometimes feel like the time flies so fast, and yet the days have a tendency to run together for me (as my daughter can attest to when we talk on the phone and I am confused...) so that I am never quite sure what day it is. This week has been hectic anyway because Eric is in finals all week and has been spending time completing projects and papers, while meeting his work obligations and attending classes. The kids have many obligations too between daily high school bowling practice (Aurora and Patrick), confirmation class (Reimond), and working (Cliff and Brie), so I spend a lot of my time running the roads as "mom's taxi". I really don't mind--I just need to keep track of the time so that I can be where I need to be, when I need to be!
I finished my last spinning class on Wednesday night. I was a little disappointed that I didn't come home with any handspun, hand-plied yarn to knit with; the agenda for the last class was to learn about how to use the remaining tools to prep fleece for spinning, including how to wash/clean raw fleece, use a drum carder (as opposed to the slower process of hand carding), or the technique of "flicking" (to prepare raw fleece for direct spinning, complete with lanolin intact on the fibers), and three different methods of plying the spun fiber (done for strength and usability). All in all, the thread I had spun was used to demonstrate plying, but the entire bobbin was NOT plied, and what was was too small to bring home/do something with. But I was told I could purchase a "studio card" that would allow me to go in whenever I wanted to use the spinning wheel and other tools. That excites me, but I will need to find somewhere to get some fleece to spin before I avail myself of it, because you have to provide your own raw materials. That's going to be my "next project"--to find some fleece.
I've decided I am going to join the "Southern Illinois Artisan's Guild." I was going to do so last night, and attend my first meeting, but some running with the kids ran overtime and I would have been late to the meeting--not a good way to make a positive first impression--so I didn't go. In talking to their out-going president, who was my spinning teacher, it seems like it would be a good fit for me and my myriad of interests, and would give me some connections that would be beneficial for finding "raw materials" for many of my needlework interests, perhaps even how to create some of my own (like hand-dyed fabrics or overdyed flosses, or making yarn). And, I really would like to be a "re-creationist"--demonstrating old-time handwork techniques for others, like piecing quilts, or embroideries, or knitting... I am really excited about doing this!
Eric has decided not to take classes next term as he finally has his dates to go to the police training school in Arkansas. He will be gone the last week of January and all of February for this and once he is done, he will be certified to carry a weapon and get his badge. This training will occur over what would be his last weeks of the winter term, and the conflicts in time and so forth would make it too difficult to be manageable. Makes sense to me! I was talking to a girlfriend in Minneapolis and mentioned to her how nice it would be to have some company when he is gone--I think I will be lonely without him here (although I am really hoping to have some sort of job before then!) and it would be nice to have other grownups around...
Before I go I wanted to put a quick update on my sister's mother in law. She had surgery yesterday to remove a small cross section of her lung to see what exactly is going on with her. I haven't heard any details as yet other than she handled the anesthesia well, and had minimal bleeding issues (despite her low blood counts). She is on oxygen now, but is doing as well as can be expected. She remains in my prayers. As Reimond said, she has been a "grandma" to my kids these last 14 years or better (when my mother-in-law died she sent cards to Liisa and Tony offering to be their Grandma too so they would have another grandma to love them, and it was a huge comfort to them). She is a wonderful woman!
teeheehee....Don't know if anyone noticed, but when I wrote this I honestly thought it was Thursday.... Then when I looked at it when it was posted, I realized Oooppps! It's really Friday.... Color me a real blonde sometimes!
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