Getting Ready For The Next Phase

For the last month, I have done very little. Normally, I spend part of August a bit further north, but this year that simply was not in the cards. Since we've had triple digit heat and August is always a "low" month for me in terms of cash, I've been staying close to home. I did lots of Olympic watching and reading. I stayed up late and slept in even more than usually.  I did some very basic stuff around the house and some sewing. For the most part, its been a very low energy month-the kind I like.

Things are about to pick up, and in a big way. Today I went and purchased my textbooks and and a new laptop. Holy Mother Of God, are textbooks expensive. I can certainly understand the trend towards renting, and frankly I would think more publishers would put books on Kindle so that students could eliminate the weight. I'm taking art courses. I can only imagine what someone who is taking say, organic chemistry or business has to look forward to in terms of book costs. On the other hand, I'm looking forward to getting into the classroom, and I man lots of time in the classroom.  Art students don't generally take their work home with them, they stay at the school and use the lap studio for extra hours. When you figure in Ceramics, Printmaking and Digital photography, art labs will be my home away from home.

Even with school, I'm hoping to get away for a weeks break at the end of September. My goal is to visit family in Denver, with a quick stop in Santa Fe on the way there. I'll discuss it with my professors and see how much I will be missing-could be interesting, but I'm ready for a road trip. Unfortunately, last year I headed to the hills to late, and the Aspen had dropped the week before I got there. That's the thing about Aspen groves, when one tree falls they all fall.

Things are also picking up on the volunteer front. My church begins building a habitat house on the 22 of September and beginning this coming weekend, we will be fundraising, recruiting builders and trying to get folks to make quilts for the family involved.

On the business side, my first fall  craft fair is mid October, and I am looking at selling at a trade days event. I have NOT done enough sewing. I have been getting one medium to large size project done a day-although I had to stop the Steelers quilt above. The red simply does not work-think I am going to have to change to yellow black and white coordinates before I move forward.  I also have a Bronco's and Cowboy quilt in the hopper, as they say on TV.

The end result is that I guess this is my last mainly horizontal day for awhile. In order to be ready to jump into the next few weeks with both feet, I'm following Juhlis "get ready for fall" organizing challenge this week.  Fall is a relative term here in Texas (no real weather change to speak of and lots of heat), but its a good excuse to get a bit organized before heading off into the school sunset. Today I have a bit of a break, because the challenge has to do with clothing and the laundry room. I've already downsized my closet due to weight loss, so I pretty much get to sit this one out. Tomorrow she has kitchens and meal plans on the schedule-which should be just right up my alley, as I am STILL having trouble cooking for one or two without waste. What can I say-I liked being the family and sometimes the neighborhood cook, and I cannot get that out of my system.

For now though, back to my kindle and my sewing room.................................