The Sewing Mom

After placing the t-shirt in the hoop and connecting the hoop to the embroidery arm on my sewing machine, I simply have to tell the machine which design I am doing and it reads that design from the d-card that I’ve inserted into it. I thread the 1st color of the design through the sewing machine and then push the “fix” button. This will tell the machine to baste a box on the fabric that basically outlines where the design will be.

Basting is very helpful when embroidering a fabric that is laying on top of the hoop. It help keep the fabric in position. After the basting is done, I press start and the machine begins stitching the design itself. The machine will do all of the work, I only have to change the thread when it is a color change and make sure there is plenty of thread in the bobbin.

This photo was taken after the first design was stitched, the candy castle.

Tags: machine embroidery

Over the past few weeks I have found myself under so much pressure and stress that I found myself feeling seriously unhappy. I began questioning every little thing that was going on around me, things I was unable to control. Today, after finally having some time to myself, I was able to catch up on a couple of necessary things to help alleviate some of my stress. I have a few more major projects to accomplish, including getting my taxes finished, but I definitely am starting to feel better.

I would really like to learn how to control my stress when the pressure reaches the levels it did, especially last week. The Sedona Method teaches presence awareness, a method that allows us to live free of unneccessary suffering. It is a simple method of allowing you uncover the ability to let go. I believe that for me personally, letting go is what would have helped me the most last week. Letting go of what I cannot control. Believing in myself. These are what can help me to stay calm when all that was around me seemed chaotic.

The Sedona Method can be used as a tool for spiritual enlightenment, a way to be at peace with yourself. To find out more about The Sedona Method, click on the above link to order a free cd or dvd.

Tags: The Sedona Method

I have been so incredibly busy over the past few weeks that today I had to try to do a little catching up on a few things. My first tackle was to get a few bills paid. While I was at it, I got my calendar updated and hopefully didn’t leave off any upcoming activities.

While organizing bills and my calendar I also managed to tackle my email account. I had over 300 emails and this morning I managed to cut it down to around 140. I decided to take a lunch break and relax for a bit. So, no picture for this week’s tackle, but I’m sure you can get a good idea of what I spent my morning working on!

Tags: tackle it Tuesday

Now that the Destination Imagination season is over, we can freely move on to the next, even more important hobby in our household, SOFTBALL!

That’s right, my daughter plays softball. She picked it up when she was 5 and played t-ball. She absolutely loves it. She took last year off, mainly due to our relocation that happened right at the beginning of the season. This year though, she seems to be coming back with a new found passion. She is on a team that was together last year and will be one of the older teams in their division. She was thinking that she didn’t want to pitch anymore, but I think that decision was being made out of nervousness. I have hired a pitching coach to work with her once a week. She had her second session with him on Sunday and she is really getting into it. I think she hasn’t yet realized just how good she is and he is really helping develop her skills. She has the basics down and he told her so. He’s now teaching her how to have a variety of pitches. It’s really very exciting to watch!

When we lived in Chicago, we were huge White Sox fans and remain so even though we’re now in Dallas. My step daughter even sent my daughter a gift card for purchasing tickets to the Texas Rangers games. Actually, we’re going to try to get tickets when the Rangers are playing the White Sox and we will be wearing our White Sox gear to that game for sure!

In the mean time, I’m thinking it would be fun to participate in a fantasy baseball league. We could draft all of our favorite players from the White Sox and create a really amazing team! If we use Fantasy Sports Prophet’s Fantasy Baseball software we’ll have access to it even if we decide to take a vacation plus it gives us all the player stats we’d need to make our draft decisions. The software also provides injury reports, we don’t want to draft a player who can’t play! Right now I can even get $10 off special for using promo code BMC200 as can you if you’re reading this. This software offers a lot of assistance to manage a fantasy team.

Who knows, maybe we’ll be the big winners both in the fantasy league and my daughter’s softball league, both in the same season!

 

Tags: fantasy baseball, softball

I met with my Destination Imagination team yesterday for the final time this season.  We went over everything they had done over the past 6 months and all the work they did.  I am very proud of them.  They worked hard and came together as a very good team.  They didn’t place at the tournament, so their season is done, but I want them to know that they did a very good job.

I believe they learned a lot and will make some changes to how they do things next year.  This was their first time to do DI for most of the team.  They also saw so many other teams at the tournament and watched two other teams present their team challenges.  It gave them ideas of not only things to incorporate into their stories, but also materials to use for building sets.

If you’ve never heard of Destination Imagination, it’s a terrific program where the kids are responsible for EVERYTHING!  They choose one of 5 team challenges and work on that for 6 months.  They incorporate any requirements into their story, their sets and props.  They create their own costumes and sets.  There can be no outside interference from parents, siblings, teachers or team managers.  As a team manager, I am responsible mainly for making sure they understand the requirements and the challenge itself.  How they choose to use their time and make their creations is completely up to them.

It is very interesting to watch a team grow and mature over the course of the season.  If we do this again next year, it will be my first time with an experience team.  I hope they will stick together.  Right now, they are telling me they want to, but we all know that when kids move on to junior high, their interests can change.

It was bittersweet yesterday, many of them wanted to continue with meetings.  I am tired and need a break.  But, once I have confirmation from the junior high that they will sponsor us, we may start meeting again as early as August or September.  It will be fun! 

Tags: Destination Imagination