Retro Table Mat

Went to a "Sit & Sew" today and finished this table mat top. It's a little busy and even a little more "retro" than what I would normally do, but I like it!

Now just to get it sandwiched, quilted, and bound! Maybe at next month's "Sit & Sew"?

Thank you for your well wishes regarding my health. I did have to break down and call the Dr. and I was put back on antibiotics. Within 2 days I was feeling much better, so it was obvious that I had gotten a hold of something that would not have gone away without the meds.

My elementary concert is over, and I can say that for my first direction of an elementary concert, my kids did pretty good. The Superintendent and the Parents I talked to seemed pleased, so that is a good thing. Only one more concert to go before the school year is over!

Well, until next time....Thanks for Stopping, and Take Care! - Elizabeth

Still Here

Hi,

Just a note to say I'm still here. I am, after all, hard to get rid of !

What have I been up to?

Craft Wise - Become fascinated with pink and brown fabrics. Have started a small stash- not quite sure what I am going to with them yet, but they are fun to look at and pet.

I've also started this project provided by Kaaren over at: http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/

as part of her "FFF" (First Friday Freebie) projects.

Note to self and others - do not, I repeat do not place a clip-on bed lamp under a clear plastic container to trace your design. As I was tracing I started to smell something getting warm. Well, needless to say I now have a nice hole in my plastic container where (unknowingly) the light bulb was touching the plastic. Can you say OOPS!

School: Busy as usual. I have a PreK - 5th grade vocal concert this Tuesday evening. I'll be glad when it is over! I'm still very torn as to what to do regarding this next Fall. For those of you who may not know, I have been offered a job again for next year however it includes the teaching of 5-8th grade band. That's along with what I am already doing (PreK - 8th grade vocal music). That's A LOT of extra work on top of a very full work load. I am very torn over the whole thing. Frustrating and stressful!

Health: Well, the tailbone is slowly coming back down from trying to join my ear-drums after my latest fall! Was back to my neurologist this last week, and there is some concern of the increased numbness in my foot after my fall. So, I am to start up physical therapy and go back to the neuro in a month. If the PT doesn't help then it's another MRI and we go from there.

I've also been blessed with every stinking bug my students could share with me possible! I might get the crud (cold/flu) once or twice a year, but I'm going on about 2 months of the crap. A colleague of mine suggested that my body was stressed by the surgery, and now my "defenses" are down. How rude! So, I've started an intense regimen of vitamins, saline rinses, extra vitamin c, lots of fluids, and all the extra rest I can get (which isn't hard, as I come home and basically collapse!)

Well, that's the life in nutshell.

Nothing fabulous or spectacular, but it's life - much better than the alternative :)

Take care and thanks for stopping by! - Elizabeth

Happy Easter

When I was 16 years old, I was fortunate to be able to go on a Music and Drama Missions trip to Eastern Europe. Needless to say, it was a life changing experience, of which I am still realizing it's effects!

During this trip, I was part of what was called the "Forgiven Mime". To me, this picture is the "essence" of that mime.

No matter how many "nails" I drive into my life, He is still there to hold me up, love me, accept me as I am, and to give me more chances then anyone ever deserves. And thankfully, it is all because of what my Lord did for me on the very first Easter.

So whether you Believe or not, I wish you a Happy Easter, and May God Bless! - Elizabeth

Pictures Finally

I FINALLY got this diaper bag done that I talked about - oh I don't 3 or 4 posts ago! It was supposed be done by Christmas!

It is a McCalls pattern made with corduroy and regular cotton.

Front View: with 2 side pockets

Front View w/ flap open and a matching card holder key-chain:

Back View - you can see where there is a large pocket:

Inside View: you can see the large pocket on the backside. That same pocket is on the front as well, however I sewed down the middle to turn it into 2 pockets - I know how clever :)

I'm glad to have this done and hopefully it will be off to it's new owner soon.

Other Updates:

School: Had 2 of my Middle School Musical Performances of Disney's "Aladdin Jr." this past week, and I must say that my kids did a pretty darn good job, considering the amount of time we had to get ready for it! I am very proud of them. :)

Now I have an Elementary Concert to get my younger kids ready for in less than a month - it never ends!

Health: It will be 3 weeks this Tuesday that I fell, and the tail-bone and "dairy-air" are still extremely sore. I am so tired of having a "pain in the a**". Literally!

I also came home early Thurs. afternoon and stayed home on Friday. I was just simply wiped out. I think the stress of my fall, the musical, the job situation for next year, etc. all caught up with me and I felt like crap and just could not function. I'm still not quite up to snuff, but am better than I was.

Other than that, I'm just pluggin' away. Now that the musical is over, I will hopefully have a little more energy in the evenings to get back to my crafts!

Take Care, and Thanks For Stopping By! - Elizabeth

I hate gravity!

I have been so very careful since my surgery! I've been feeling good, getting stronger every day, been walking on ice, driving in horrible, icy, snowy, foggy conditions, and I get taken down by a wet step! I was even going slow....I just don't get it!

This past Tuesday, I fell flat on my rear and proceeded to bump my way down to the bottom (6-7 stairs in all). Instant and severe pain! I immediately thought I had screwed up where I had surgery! Had to have my school Principal drive me to the emergency room, as my neurosurgeon was in the O.R. all day and his co-workers were fully scheduled.

I had a CT scan and it looks like the surgical site is okay. I have bone and soft tissue bruising of my tailbone and "dairy-air" and they found another fracture on my L1 vertebrae! However....they think the fracture is actually an old one that was not caused by this fall - when I go back for a check up they will look at it again.

In other words, I HURT! I am so very tired of pain that I can not escape. Yes, pain pills, ice packs, heating pads, etc. all help - but it never truly goes away. It makes me physically, emotionally tired, and I'm not really "living", but surviving. Add that to the stresses of my job situation, and well, to put it nicely, it stinks!

To make matters even worse, my Middle Schooler's musical is a week away and I have to be at school to get them ready! We have already missed 4 rehearsals due to poor weather and we can not afford to miss anymore. So there's no staying home and recouping for me. I have no assistant, just me.......and to ask for an extension is pretty futile - even given the circumstances.

So - I try and plaster a smile on my face and away I go - praying the entire day to have the strength to put "one toe in front of the other".

I know things could be much, much worse. I am still able to walk, I have a roof over my head, food in the pantry and clothes in the closet - that is more than millions of other people in the world have. So, I should get over my pity party, and be thankful for the things I do have (which I am), but sometimes a girl just needs to vent.

Well, as always, thanks for stopping and putting up with me :)

Please take care! Elizabeth

Haven't been snowed away...

......although it feels like it! I think I heard we're up to 26 inches of snow - that's a lot of snow!

I'm still here, plugging away.

This next week will be a busy one as I have a Middle School Concert tomorrow night, Musical rehearsals after school on Tues. and Fri. and Elementary Parent Teacher Conferences Thurs. night. Next Saturday, I probably will not be able to move!

Had a discussion with my Superintendent the other day. I still have a job next fall HOWEVER, it will be doing what I am now = Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade Vocal (not including every day teaching, that's 5 concerts a year, plus the musical, plus Honor Choirs, etc. )

WITH THE ADDITION of:

Teaching 5th - 8th grade Band. So add what I'm doing now to starting beginning band students, literally running all 5 concerts, prepare students to march at Homecoming Parade, do Honor Bands, and add another concert in there for the "Band Extravaganza"). In essence I would be doing a 2 person/2 full-time job that they are cutting down into one.

OR:

I could continue what I am doing now for 1/2 the pay.

I'm getting very tired of having the "rug pulled out from under me" every spring - this is year number 3 now. I don't know if this and past event's are God's way of saying it's time to move on to a different profession, or if I'm being tested.

Thankfully I have some time to search for another position if I choose to, or look into another career - either way, it just plain stinks.

And, someday - this will turn back into a crafty and happy blog :)

Thanks for stopping and take care! - Elizabeth

Snow, and Snow, and Snow, and......

Catch my drift...... (tee hee)

Yet another extremely snowy day in Iowa today.

We had school today, for a whopping 2 hours. I won't tell you how irritated I was - okay maybe I will :)

Warning: Venting ahead - I do apologize to those of you who come to see crafty pictures and news. Unfortunately it's just not in the works right now. For the moment my blog, is a way to journal - get things "off my chest, and out of my head". So if you care to move on to another blog - that's fine, I understand. If not, thanks for reading and stopping by! I do appreciate you!!

I knew that we were in for another big snow storm, and was sure we would not have school today.

But as of 6:00 am, there was no news. So, before leaving home to head to work (which takes 1 hr. in good weather), I called my Superintendent to make sure that we were on schedule. Yup, we were but it looked like we would be getting out early. As to when "early" was he didn't know.

Because I live an hour away, I said that I may turn around and come home if it was too bad. I then got the spiel about how I would have to take a full personal day if I did not make it to school (once you/students get to school and then are sent them home early, it is still counted as a full day). Which, I can understand.....however......

Due to my surgery, I have NO MORE personal, sick, you name it days! In other words, if I don't show, I don't get paid. Unless I'm really physically ill, I'm not in a position that I can afford to miss school.

So, I trodded along going between 25 and 40 mph on the interstate that was primarily one lane at best. If you were passed by a semi, and insane drivers, you couldn't see due to the kicked up snow. This will probably describe how bad it truly was - a snow plow had gone into the ditch! A SNOW PLOW!!

It took me 2 hrs. to get to school (I was only 15 min. late as I had left that early!) I was so tense and knotted up that I could hardly move when I got there. We had a short staff meeting, and then it was a mad dash to get some items printed off and handed out to my musical kids, and then it was get ready to dismiss the kids at 10:00 am.

I risked my life for 2 hours on dangers roads, to be at school for 2 hours! If I'm at home and this happens again, NO WAY. I'll take a day of no pay. It is simply not worth it.

Thankfully, my Dad only lives about 30 min. from where I work, and so I am now holed up with him. I had originally planned to stay with him this evening, as musical rehearsals were to start, so the plan was/is to stay with him on Mon., Tues. and Thurs. evenings.

I doubt we will have school tomorrowv (but then again who knows!) as the winds are to really pick up this evening. That means all this fresh snow, 8-10 inches, of it is going to go flying all over the place. Fun - Fun.

So, no matter were you are, I hope you are safe and comfortable!

As always, take care and thank you for stopping by! - Elizabeth