Stitching and Teaching

Yesterday night I finished my Mandala Garden project. I am especially excited because it was my first needlework that included beads - gosh, I never imagined how much could go wrong with beads! First, I tried the clear thread that was "suggested" by my local craft shop - and, I tell you, it was a disaster. The thread was too thick and felt like I was stitching with the fishing string... It pulled my fabric in all directions and made the beads uneven.

After that fiasco, I decided to use regular thread with the beading needle instead. I pulled out the fish string out of my poor fabric, took a deep breath and started. It was easier than I expected this time - the beads were lying evenly, and the thread did not show, since I used gold for the gold beads and very light blue for the clear ones. The result is before your eyes. I think it's pretty good for the first try on beading...

Thank you to everyone who gave me pointers on beading techniques. Every advice was very helpful.

Several weeks ago, I went back to working full time - one teacher is on leave, and they invited me to substitute until she comes back. That is very good news, of course, - working full time, getting the training and the experience I need, and getting paid for it - what could be better? The only thing is - I do not have much time to stitch... I wonder how I could integrate my stitching into a preschool lesson... Any suggestions? Please let me know. :)

Now that the Mandala Project is finished, I am going back to my Celestial Lady, but she is really, really big... I am thinking of a sampler that I started in between - maybe I will finish it first. I will post my updates.

Until next time... Stay safe and healthy.

The Matriarch of the Family

For the past week, my husband has been at a job conference out of state, so for five days I was the sole ruler, the enforcer and the commander, over our four children. Before Joe left, we all sat down and had an agreement. The kids promised to try to limit their fights and outbreaks of disobedience to a minimum, and complete their homework and chores daily. In return, I promised to do my best not to make their lives more difficult than necessary. I promised to be although strict, but just and merciful.
Amazingly, I have not had to raise my voice once during the entire five days. Alex, our oldest, had to come home from school on a bus and manage himself for a couple of hours until I got home from work. He completed his homework every day, several times did the dishes, and did not argue with me once! I was ready to ask him - "Who are you and what have you done with my son?"
The girls also managed themselves fairly well - homework, schoolwork, no fights or yelling. The youngest, Vera, though, had a daily cry about missing daddy and trying to get out of going to school until he comes back. Every time I had to explain to her that, whether daddy is here or not, she still has to go to school, because I simply won't be home. I had to go to work.
Gustav, my 11-year-old, stayed consistent and true to himself. In addition to being grumpy and sullen, he also developed a cold, which made him look more miserable than usual. Well, the cold part was being taken care of by the cold medicine. So, generally he was himself - no changes.
This five -day experience has taught me some lessons. First, if you want your children to hear you and respond consciously to your questions, the TV has to be off at all times. TV turns children into zombies.
Second, giving children options is a good thing, but those options have to be clear, concise and precise. "Your choices are - either this or that. Pick and choose." No monologues about past experiences and world philosophy. It only gets them distracted. Besides, most of the time they have something to say, so I often had to explain my point. I made myself talk for no longer than five minutes at a time on these explanations.
Finally, it made me open to suggestions. Open, though, does not mean letting the children run with it and see what happens. Trial and error is not my approach, at least not at the moment. I had very limited time every day to get everything done, so I left the power to allow implementation of new things with myself.
Overall, I believe my matriarchal period was a success. Well, I suppose the next step from running the family is running the country :) But that I am planning to leave for later. For now, I have to get back to my stitching projects and actually complete some of them. My UFOs list is growing.

Update on Stitching and Life

First of all, here is my update on the stitching progress... I have been working (somewhat) tirelessly on completing it, and it seems like it's coming along well. Hope you enjoy it.
Second, I am seriously considering disconnecting my phone line. I realized lately that the only people calling my number are the bill collectors. Well, besides my employer. Paying for the phone line just to receive annoying calls about debts sounds ridiculous... But, my employer does have to get a hold of me. That's the only consideration still keeping me from disconnecting that stupid phone line.

I have to say, though - next time any of my "friends" tries to proclaim his/her "true caring feelings" or share his/her problems, I will walk away. I don't think I will even say anything. I will just keep walking.

Thoughts on the Mind Process of a Herd

Recently, I have heard that the Vatican blessed the latest Harry Potter movie for its potrayal of Good and Evil. The Pope, in his own way, recommended the movie to the world.
What happened afterwards is somewhat difficult to accept, because it shows how narrow-minded most people actually are. Just several months ago I spoke to some acquaintances, who were convinced that Harry Potter stories - books and movies equally - were "the work of the devil." They did not allow any such material in their homes, and their children were strictly forbidden access to any Harry Potter stories. Now, after the "blessing," the same such people are the ones that - in a hurry - buy the books and get the movies - and make Harry Potter mandatory. The same woman that just several months ago was telling me disdainfully that she does not follow witchcraft and devil-worshipping (two different ideas, but OK) and therefore does not wish to be exposed to such ideas (not the intention of the book at all, in my opinion) - now was seen by me talking to someone on the cell, ordering "every book of Harry Potter available" and also checking how she could get the movies.
Whatever happened to this woman's strong disdain for the whole subject? More importantly, where does her true opinion lie? Where are her brains? Do they function? In the land that claims to be so full of freedoms, she is unable to use her brains to take advantage of the most basic one - the freedom of choice. Why? Because, apparently, she lost her ability to make choices. She needs someone to tell her what's right and wrong, what to accept and what to refuse, just like a small child would. Scary... Now add to that several thousand (million? ) people that are like her - and we just entered the Area of Nightmares. My nightmares, anyway.
Personally, I have always appreciated Harry Potter books - from the moment I decided to read one. I think that the movies do not give full justice to the books, but, given time constraints, they are done fairly well. Some very important moments, though, were omitted. But, I never needed anyone to tell me these were good books or good movies - I read them and watched them and made my own informed decision. Whatever happened to the basic right of using one' s brain?
Anyway, I'd better go and do something else before I get extremely bitter.

Mandala Cross-stitch

Well, I am happy to say that I am dedicating as much time as possible to my cross-stitch. I found the free designs on Chatelaine web sites (thank you, Kathy) and decided to give one of them a try - a Mandala Rose Garden. I already had some of the needed threads in my box, but I have never dealt with sewing on beads - what thread to use? What needles?

As of now, I have decided to concentrate on the cross-stitch part of the project. That will give me time to do reasearch on the needed beads and materials. The design is definitely very particular, but it is also very interesting to stitch.

On the down side, I have been completely neglecting my pen and notebook - I have not written a line for weeks... Maybe I need a new pen. The one I have just does not inspire me.

Look at the picture of my work in progress and judge for yourself... Well, don't judge too harshly.

The Trip to Santa Barbara and the "French Festival"

Yesterday we went to Santa Barbara - the Museum of Natural History has their "Butterflies Alive" exhibit. It is a small garden, and the different species of butterflies are released in it, hundreds of them. To make sure they do not fly away, the garden is surrounded by a net. We were told to be careful and not touch them, but they, apparently, can sit on us if they choose.
Vera kept trying to persuade the butterflies to sit on her, sticking out her fingers and putting them in front of the flowers. Rita, on the contrary, kept ducking every time a butterfly flew past her. She said she did not want them to land on her head.
After the exhibit, we decided to go to the French Festival - the poster said it was something good and educational. Well, it turned out to be noisy, hot, and expensive. It was filled with vendor trucks from all over, and it had "Authentic French BBQ" Are you kidding me? French do not have "authentic" Barbeque, I don't think the word is even in their vocabulary! And their "French Ice Cream" was nothing but your regular vendor 7-11 ice cream, only the price was $4 a pop. "Authentic French Bakery" had French Bread, the kind they sell at Vons, and crepes like at IHOP. Ridiculous. Even the bounce house was $3-5 for 5 minutes. And the books on the stands were used, but sold at the price of new....
In short, it was one big attempt of the local vendors and artists to sell their stuff with the French theme as a cover up. The only thing that was mildly amusing was the group of girls -six or seven of them - dressed up as French dancers. They were posing, and Joe took their picture.
So, after this hot disappointment we went to the Aquarium - right on the pier, it's an extension of SB Natural History Museum. There the kids had some fun: they looked at the snails, the hermit crabs, starfish, and they were even allowed to touch them. We saw the baby sharks in one of the tanks. Now that was fun.
I learned that some species of sharks start hunting before they are even born. When the eggs get hatched inside the mother's body, there is no placenta attached to the baby, so it has to eat the unhatched eggs and smaller siblings inside the mother to survive until it is born and out of her woom. So, the survivors of these species are born ready to hunt and have death of their siblings on their conscience, so to speak...

Stitching Time, Summer Time

Well, it looks like I am going to have my first actual day off tomorrow. I do need it: for the past two days, I've been falling asleep practically right after coming back from work. Which meant - I have been neglecting my cross-stitch project. I am sooo close to finishing it... It's a Celestial Lady with the Zodiac Signs all around her. I am going to try and take a picture.
With the summer vacation, my children have acquired the ability to attract mud and dirt at a distance; it seems that no matter how often they shower, they still manage to stay dirty. Oh well, maybe that's what summer is for. For children, anyway. I don't remember - I have not been a child for a long time. For me, summer is the time when I work just as much as during the rest of the year, but also try to accomodate for some "educational" and fun trips for the whole family. As a result, your schedule becomes twice as busy as usual, and, well, that means - the Celestial Lady lays unfinished.
I am going to try and finish her by the end of summer.