Good crafty news: I finished the real knitting part on Skyler’s sweater last night. Now I just need to sew up the hood seam at the top and figure out how I want to do the buttons.
Before |
After! There’s more of a difference in real life. |
Good crafty news: I finished the real knitting part on Skyler’s sweater last night. Now I just need to sew up the hood seam at the top and figure out how I want to do the buttons.
Before |
After! There’s more of a difference in real life. |
Tuesday was the birthday of composer Camille Saint-Saens, the Frenchman who wrote such pieces as “The Carnival of the Animals” and the “Organ Sympony” (#3). Even though I played the Organ Symphony back in the day, I can never hear the last movement now without thinking of the movie Babe.
I haven’t been blogging about my 3 quantitative and 2 qualitative goals for the year of being 32 very much, but I’ve been working on them behind the scenes. Remember the first qualitative goal?
+1. Be happier in my work
This is qualitative for now because I don’t know what it’s going to take for me to be happier. Just an attitude adjustment? Some internal changes at my current job? A different ad gig? A radical career shift? I’ve been pondering this for a while now, but I’m still “living my way into the answer.”
Well, Rilke will be happy to know that I finally found the answer: As of Monday I’m starting a new job as a writer. I’m leaving ad agency life and software clients (and downtown SLC) behind and going to work in-house at a craft company. It’s a big change, but I think it was time to shake things up–and I’m pretty excited about it.
I’m trying to finish up the current projects so Skyler can have his sweater while he still fits in it and I can get a few more things sewn before it’s too cold to wear anything but sweaters and boots.
For Skyler’s sweater, there’s a sleeve done now. I think I can get this wrapped up in the next couple of weeks.
For sewing, the rayon that was a pile of pieces is now a dress front and a somewhat reduced pile of pieces. It’s looking really “Little House on the Prairie Maternity” right now but I have hopes that it will get better as I add more parts.
I can’t even call this a day trip since we drove up Little Cottonwood in the morning to get a site, got breakfast on the way down the canyon and continued our day, and then came back at dark with soup and camping gear. City camping is the best! And my down bag is rated to at least 28 degrees, which was the low Sunday morning.
1. Yesterday brother posted about my dad’s latest balloon creation for Skyler (a fireman’s hat!) and included this picture. If this doesn’t make you happy, I think you’re broken.
2. I just discovered the Yummy Books blog, which takes foods from literature and cooks them. It’s recipes and quotes–perfect!
My little nephew Skyler loves balloons. This has inspired my dad to learn how to make balloon animals for him, thus earning the title of “Best Grandpa Ever.”
Making balloon animals had come up in the past and I’d guessed that YouTube had some tutorials. But Dad found a local clown (literally; I’m not being mean) who teaches classes and got instruction first-hand. (He also got a red nose to wear while making the balloon animals.) Then Dad had to go to a place called House Of Chuckles (!) to get a supply of animal-making balloons. And now he’s practicing every day so he can surprise Skyler with new animals every week.
I’m really resisting italics here because every part of this story delights me. You know what else is delightful? This monkey. And my dad.