youthology

real or fake?

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quilt

i finished calvin's crib quilt. i love the way it turned out. i started it the moment i got home from my sewing machine class because i really wanted to practice using my walking foot. i did not have a high expectation for the final product, but it came out great and very unlike any quilts i have made before. here's a few pictures...

i already have the fabric picked out for my next quilt. it will be for my friend who is pregnant and due in january, which seems far away, but always seems to creep up fast.

i can't stop...

watching these films. a class i am taking called 'culture, media and education' introduced me to this sight. enjoy...

http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/

first day.

room 3 was filled with hopeful nervous third graders on wednesday. brand new binders, newly sharped pencils, untouched erasers sat anxiously on top of sterilized desks. everyone felt sadness for the end of summer and excitement for the beginning of a new school year.

everyone that is except for me. i wasn't there. for six years i have started the school year as the teacher, but this year i will be starting as a student. i miss the few days, hours, minutes before school begins for the year. all the colors of construction paper are in order and accounted for and every marker is capped. nervous excitement brims from within me. as the students walk through the door i know i am where i belong.

but this year i am a stranger to what lies ahead. i will be a master's student at an ivy league school. i am the one who is hopeful and nervous. i have my binder (labeled), pencils sharpened (and pens), and a stack of loose leaf paper. i am physically ready for the first day of school on thursday. as i walk though the hallowed halls on thursday and enter my first classroom, i hope i feel like i belong.

sewing straight...

quilting lots of equally spaced straight lines is harder than i thought. at first i was frustrated and ripped out my first two sewing lines, but now i am talking myself into liking the imperfect 'handmade' look.

using my new walking foot and trying out different stitches is fun and i think the quilt will look fine in the end because there will be so many lines that each line's imperfections will not be as noticeable. at least that is what i keep telling myself.

now i just have to start sewing the lines that go the other way.

martha!

i am going to see her, live and in person. we are totally going to become bff!

six months and plastic

calvin is six months old today. it is amazing how quickly the last six months have gone. he also cut his first tooth today (finally). he has been struggling with it for weeks now.

we interviewed an in-home daycare provider tonight. the lady was really nice, but there is something about in-home daycare that gross me out. i blame my friend kelly because she worked at an amazing in-home daycare/preschool and i feel like i hold everyone i interview to that standard, which i am quickly learning is impossible for anyone here to live up to. we interviewed a nanny that i really like but we are not sure that we can afford her. decisions, decisions...

i have been reading about plastic this week. there is so much information out there about the dangers of this seemingly invaluable material. i found what i feel is a reliable source and discovered that i should avoid 3, 6, & 7 plastics. i ran to the kitchen to check out the numbers on the bottom of all my plastic. nalgene bottles are 7! i had heard that nalgenes aren't good, but they were okay as long as they are not heated (as in the dishwasher). i looked at some alternatives, but they all seem to be aluminum and i hate metal tasting water. so i guess i will continue to hand wash my nalgenes. baby bottles are another plastic that is on the bad list. glass bottles seem dangerous to me, especially now that calvin is getting bigger and more independent. we do have glass storage bowls, which look old-fashiony and cute and allow for safe reheating in the microwave.


now i just have to worry about all the damage that is already done to my body because i have been drinking and eating out of plastic my whole life...