Happy New Year!
I have never been one to make resolutions for the new year. I used to try but I guess I was never motivated enough to keep them. So, now I don't. The middle of the winter doesn't seem like the beginning of a new year to me anyway. :)
Being an employee of a school district it seems to me that my year starts at the beginning of the school year in August, or maybe it starts at the end of the school year when summer vacation starts. :)
Anyway, the middle of the winter just doesn't feel like the beginning of a new year to me.
But I wish every one blessings for the new year.
2013 was a year of changes and challenges for me.
I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis this summer. That is no fun
when work with Kindergarteners. I am on my feet and busy all day.
My
husband is suffering with COPD. He is a farmer, spending lots of time
outside, baling hay all summer in addition to the planting and
harvesting of field crops. This is getting harder for him to do.
I have a new principal and assistant principal at work. They are both nice, but it is an adjustment for all of us.
My son finished his 4th year of high school. I didn't say graduated because he is attending a school for visually impaired students to strengthen his independence skills. It isn't high school and it isn't college. It is a sort of transition from high school to real life.
He goes to classes on the school campus. There is a dining hall that provides 3 meals a day.
He lives in a building that is like a dorm. It has 4 pods - 1 in each corner of the building, 2 for girls, 2 for boys, with a center area being where visitors check in, staff monitor the living areas in each pod and gathering areas for the students to meet. Each pod has a center area with a kitchen/dining area and TV sitting area. Each student has their own room with a shared bathroom.
He is enjoying it and the staff tell me he is making good decisions. He will have a job off campus in the coming semester. They will help him learn the best way to arrange for transportation to and from his job, but it is his responsibility to get to his job. They don't do that for him.
At some point he will move from his dorm into an apartment-type building where he will work on managing an apartment. He will prepare one meal a day. That includes planning a menu, shopping for ingredients and preparing the meal.
While he is growing and maturing, he stills has a little ways to go.
My husband and I are enjoying being empty nesters, but it isn't too hard so far since my son is home every weekend. We are now also much more involved with my husband's mother.
My mother-in-law is 81 and has been having health issues for a few years. This summer she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and possible TIAs or mini-strokes. She fell, broke her hip, hit her head and a major stroke in the hospital. She is completely paralyzed on her left side - she is left handed. She lost her ability to swallow so a feeding tube had to be placed. She has been in a nursing facility since the end of September.
My FIL will be 90 in a month. He is very hard of hearing. At the hospital he couldn't hear most of what the nurses and doctors were telling him. What he did hear, he had trouble understanding. I think he is beginning to have some dementia as well. He has been with my MIL every day- at the hospital, at the nursing facility.
He is having a hard time accepting help from us.
My new normal is visiting with her every day on my way home from work.
I try to keep my sanity by quilting and knitting. Most days I am too tired by the time I get home. But, during school breaks I make up for it.
Right now I am working pretty hard on this Twister quilt. I am using batiks.
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| Sewing 5 inch squares. |
There are 3 different Twist tools. I am using the medium sized. You start by sewing 5 inch squares together to make a base fabric.
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| 5 inch squares sewn into the base fabric. |
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| Cutting |
Then, using the Twister tool, this base fabric is cut into squares. There are lines on the tool that line up with the seam lines. When you cut out these squares you end up with a pieced block. The 'waste' pieces are about 2 1/2 inches. They really aren't waste. I will trim them up and use them for another project.
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| Cutting the base fabric. |
I found it easier to drape my base fabric over my dishwasher for cutting.
Here I am starting to sew the cut squares together. It seemed like a long process until I started thinking about cutting each of those shapes out and sewing them together. I think this was much easier.
I am pleased with the way it is looking so far. I will add borders all around when the piecing is finished.
This is a good start for the New Year.
I need to keep working - I go back to work on Monday!
