Well, April just flew by. We had some out of town shenanigans, lots of snow, the big melt, and running around. The boy started high school boys volleyball, so two volleyball kids meant lots of games and tournaments. I am also still looking for gainful employment, so that has been tons of fun. 😉
Here is my review of my goals for April.
I have to say, that it is more difficult to handle the job search than I thought it would be. Mostly it is the lack of communication on why they didn’t think you were a good fit. I can take the criticism! I would just like to know if I wasn’t good at interviewing or showing off my skillset. That is hard. Talking yourself up is difficult when you are taught your whole life that you should be humble. Don’t lambast your talents for all to hear. That is the guiding star for women, at least from how I’ve grown up.
I come from a farm family, so I grew up on working hard. I am a bit of a perfectionist (shocker, I know), so that translates to making sure I do well at my employment. I am also highly flexible, as having the whole left side brain (math, science) and right side brain (creativity) working well together. I remember in high school psychology class we were testing each other on some traits that would indicate if you were left or right brain dominate. Even though I excelled at the math and science curriculum, my test indicated that I was right brain dominate, which really surprised my teacher.
This actually translates well into pattern drafting, and why it is not as hard for me to grasp. I can see the design of the end product in my mind, but to get there I am using math and 3D modeling to figure out how to make it successfully. Both sides of my brain are brought to bear on the design work.
I am going into a 3rd interview on a job that sounds interesting to me. We’ll see what happens, but I am still keeping my options open and looking at other opportunities.
During April I went through my daughter’s room, we got rid of the majority of her toys and painted it with big girl colors of a grey/blue and grey color. I just need to recover her pink desk chair. I got frames for all the artwork that we had purchased from Ruth Thompson at the Renaissance Faire for her, and got them up on the walls. It looks much more grown now, and less cluttered. The clutter was seriously getting to me!
The toys were partially sent off to Marty School in South Dakota, and I kept back the dolls to package together with clothes for the Christmas party. I treated their hair and washed them up, so all I need to do is to figure out how to package them up for Christmas. I might see if I can get some cheap plastic boxes, so they can have that to hold their toys. I also need to find a box to send off all the legos that she had. I put them all together in packages to make sure they stayed together. She had the instructions for most of them, too.
Reading for the month was a few re-reads, but I did read Thea Harrison’s new book, American Witch. I really like all of her books. They are romances with the fantasy aspect, humor and strong female leads. Another book of hers that did not disappoint.
I continue to fill up my journal. I have a feeling I will fill it up before the end of the year. I do lots of sketches in between my to do lists. It is nice to have a place to keep everything in my life.
I didn’t really do much for tiled designs last month. It was a lot of reading or sewing.
I tried to keep up with the #52 week sewing challenge, but some were late. The challenges for the last month were:
- Mend something – this I did not do
- Sew Something from a Paper Pattern – I counted my new Sherpa coat as a paper pattern
- Sew a bathing suit/undergarment – I sewed another pair of underwear
- Sew a V-neck – This would be the maxi dress
- Sew your newest fabric – The top I made with my own fabric that I got that week.
I also sewed up a few other items:
- Carry-on bag
- Moto-inspired pants
- Cross body purse for my mom, and FINALLY got that tutorial done
- Modified Rulo top
I got a few things knocked off my list to get done before I go back to work, so I need to get on the rest of them:
- Landscaping. Get as much cleaned up as I can.
- Work on and finish up our 2017 photo book
- Work on “my book”. I did a little of character planning. How everything would fit together is fun to hypothesize.
- Paint the kids’ rooms (ONE DOWN!)
Paint the cabinets in the bathroom upstairs. I painted the walls earlier this year and it is all decorated. I just need to get that hard piece done.- I would like to do a refresh on our bedroom, but not sure when I will have time to do that. It has been the same for about 14 years, and it wasn’t an easy painting project.
Hopefully, I will get time to get some of this completed. I guess I will see how that interview goes!
