Crafting + “Dirty Dancing” + homeade salsa & chips = a pretty decent night.

Now I have my own little corner of our spare bedroom that is my crafting area!  My mom is letting me borrow her antique sewing chest to house my new sewing machine that I got for Christmas and all of my random fabric and ribbons.  I am working on some vintage-style aprons with the new fabric I bought, and I am trying to finish up my batch of birds & ‘bots that I started a long time ago.   I would love to launch my etsy website before the end of the month, so we’ll see….

I don’t have to work tommorow, so here’s to a productive, crafty day!

Yesterday I spent 8+ hours doing exactly what I wanted to do and I still got so little done.  How horrible (because I want to make headway! progress!) and how wonderful (because it means that my little project is so much bigger than I expected).  I determined that if I worked on my project for somewhere between seven and fourteen days straight, working 8+ hours per day, I could complete it.

Other things I would like to do on my sabbatical: go to the library in the mornings and spend afternoons and evenings reading books on photography, business, and crafting.  I would drink toasted marshmellow-hot chocoloate (which I sampled today at Barnes and Noble).  I would finish my little side projects: half-knitted scarves, Jim-Bobs needing limbs sewn on, birds needing wings, photos needing scrap-booked.  I would work on my stories about Spanky the Elephant and Jesus’ Favorite Little Squirrel.

I also would like to clean our apartment.  It is relatively clean, but doesn’t everyone have those drawers and closets filled with random stuff that you don’t know where else to put?  I need to do something about that.

I feel extremely overwhlemed and stressed today.  A lot can be attributed, sadly, to the Christmas season.  In my head I am thinking about all the things I need to buy and how much money they will cost.  I wanted to design our Christmas cards this year, but I don’t know when or how. 

Of course, all these things are true of most adults.  Everyone needs a sabbatical.  Everyone has their little project that needs completed.  Everyone is too busy and spread too thing and stressed out about money and things.  I guess we all should have been college professors.

 
((the stray kitty on thanksgiving.))

This weekend, I got pretty far on a batch of my little robots/dinosaurs/birds. They are really fun to make, but time-consuming and I can only do so much by hand. After the detail-work, I really need a sewing machine to sew their bodies together, and that will have to wait until the next time I am in Massillon.

I also am creating an nemesis for Jim-Bob. A peek:

He needs a name/story/super-power.

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On Saturday, I went to the Columbus Arts Festival with James. “It was sticky and there were a lot of humans” — I think that’s what James said that Lauren said about it. It was pretty true. We talked to a guy for a little while who does artwork involving robots and I think I might email him some photos of my Jim-Bob stuff. And I bought some neat postcards of this crazy Scottish-fold cat, by a guy named Kip Holm.

I was trying to find his booth because Funnel and I had seen him at the festival two years ago and were pretty taken by his crazy-eyed cat and wished we had bought something. I think when we get a cat, we are going to get a Scottish-fold. (And it’s a big deal for me that I just said “when” and not “if”… by the way).

Tomorrow night, I am starting my photography class at CCAD. It’s been over a year since I have been a part of a class (besides church) and I have been craving school again. I never thought I would say that. I miss being around enthusiastic, creative people and I miss assignments (not papers, but fun assignments). I am excited and nervous, and my old camera is in working order and I have directions to get there.

Last weekend, I helped Adam and Cara photograph a wedding in Pittsburgh. I’ve never been there before, except for driving through on our way to South Carolina every year. I really liked Pittsburgh, from the little bit of time we spent driving around it on Saturday. I think for some reason, I have had an unfair idea of it but I thought it was really pretty at night, with all the bridges.

Anyway, the wedding was really beautiful and a lot of fun, but I was frustrated because so many times, my photos didn’t turn out how I wanted them to. I have so much to learn. At least I am getting better each time.

A soundtrack has evolved for my June. I love it when that happens.

I hope these songs always bring me back to this time.
((you & me)).

((PS. If you write a comment and it doesn’t show up, can you email me? jimmel84 at hotmail dot com. I’ve had to use a stricter filter because I’ve been getting a lot of spam comments and stuff doesn’t seem to be showing up now. Thanks.))

This is how I look when I wake up in the mornings…

2.)) We got a Ninetendo Wii! Last weekend, Funnel and I waited in the cold in front of Toys R Us from six to nine with some interesting people, including a divorced father of three who slept in a sleeping bag of his car the night before and shared gruesome finger-getting-cut-off stories with us. It really was a fun three hours.

3.)) We bought a 1970-71 Hammond Organ at the thrift store. I love it. I love the rainbow keys. I love that it sounds like music from Napoleon Dyanmite. We are going to be Mates of State.

4.)) Last spring during my boring Laughlin class, I started drawing “Jim Bob the Robot.” He has evolved the last few months, and I went to Michael’s the other day and bought felt and stuffing and know he’s a real, tangible, thing. I think it’s the start of something. My grandma is giving me her old sewing machine so I can make more!

5.)) We got our professional wedding photos back! I am going to do a huge post soon with all of them, but here is a sneak peek:

6.)) Happy.

I need to stop slacking off and start getting my life together. This does not include making music album layouts. It does include writing, writing, writing, finishing Senior Writing Project, getting stuff done for the wedding (!!) and mostly looking for a job. As I was looking at some potential jobs, I came across this:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, and sit. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance.
I’m pretty sure I’m applying for that one!

I am having a really hard time concentrating on much of anything this quarter. It’s a combination of the spring weather and having less than a month left til I am done for good. So in class, I’ve mostly been drawing flowers and Feather the duck and robots and daydreaming of my lovely love.

My robot’s name is Jim-Bob.
This man’s name is Jim-Bob too. He has sixteen kids.