More Black Belt Stitching Wizard Stuff

Friday, January 29, 2010

For Lack of a Better Title

Lately my focus on life seems to be pretty narrow, making it from Monday to Friday, so that I can relax and stitch on the weekends. Honestly I get up Monday morning and think about how far away Friday 3:30 (quitting time) is! I just want to come home, sit in my chair with one of my Mum's quilts on my lap and stitch... or sleep! We've got a couple of very cold days ahead of us and I'm doubly glad all I'm going to do this weekend is stay home! (you can tell its cold outside, Hunter is spending a lot more time on my lap all of a sudden)
Thursday night I was called in to teach at TKD the first two family classes, I actually ended up teaching all three classes that night, including the black belt/red belt class I had planned on attending. I still feel like I've got my training wheels on when I'm infront of a class at the dojang but I'm sure with some more teaching under my belt that feeling will go away. My family classes, I handled much better than last week. Things went much smoother, I barely had any behaviour issues, and didn't feel like I was floundering around in my teaching. At the moment I'm not scheduled to teach any classes in February but you never know, I might get the call.
My weigh in was not bad this week I'm down another 0.5lbs which made me just legal at my Weight Watchers meeting! Yay I didn't have to pay for January. I've now got four more weeks to work on dropping another 1.5lbs and I'll be back at my goal weight.

Between working, the gym, the dojang, and other things in between I did find some stitching time this week. Of course I'm still single mindedly working on Tour. Wouldn't it be lovely if I could finish this page before the month was up??? Here's my progress through the week before picking Tour up this evening. I'll of course give you another update Sunday night!
I am still being consistent with my photo a day project, each day managing to find something to photograph. This project has certainly opened me up to being more aware of my surroundings and looking for points of interest. You should try going around with your camera if you don't already do!

Monday January 25 - After going to the gym, I treated myself to a pound of strawberries! Yum! Its been so nice to make myself a smoothie in the morning with fresh berries!

Tuesday January 26 - A beacon in a cold Ontario night. In Ontario, beer is only sold in two places, yes "The Beer Store" or the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). The beer store is right across the parking lot from my Weight Watcher's meeting.

Wednesday January 27 - On Wednesday afternoon I went to a book fair for High School libraries. It was organized by the public board in the area I work in. The book fair was held in a high school that was no longer being used as a school but a multi-use facility for that board. It was a pleasant surprise to come across this passage full of plants enjoying the winter sun.


Thursday January 28 - A hockey net at the rink next to my house, off the ice so that the surface can be easily shovelled.


Friday January 29 - I have this fascination with barns, the older the better! I think they just have so much character and I love to photograph them. This one was on my way home from the workshop I attended today.

24 comments:

Yvonne said...

Love the progress of your wip! It is progressing gorgeously. Thank you for the pictures. The strawberries look so delicious!

Heidi said...

Your stitching is beautiful!! Can't wait to see your finished project!

Great pictures this week! I love the strawberries! And the barn! Great shots!

Chiloe said...

I love barns too ! Especially the ones in the US ( red ones).

I really love the fabric for the Tour .

Wendy said...

Ooooh that stitching is amazing!! Can't wait to see your progress on it. I have no idea how it looks like when finished.

It is snowing here also for the moment en very cold. So we will stay home on Sunday as well and do stitching the whole day. I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for sharing these lovely pictures. They are very nice.

Laural said...

Work just seems to take forever anymore. Maybe because there's never any sun. Great progress on Tour!

Anonymous said...

Fun photos as usual :) Tour is coming along beautifully.

riona said...

I love the wide range of images in your photo journey ... from my perspective there is a marvelous unpredictability to the series ... it's always a joy and a surprise to see what catches your attention in a given time frame.
Great progress on TdM ... unfortunately I haven't gotten a single stitch in on my Autumn Faerie this week and have such a busy weekend planned I doubt I'll manage more than 2 or 3 hours.
Sounds to me like you have the winter blahs a little earlier than most educators. Here in the states, they usually strike in late Feb and March since that's when we go six solid weeks without a break ... by the time we reach the Spring/Easter break, the children are climbing the walls and most teachers are just barely refraining from snarling.

Bette said...

Your WIP is beautiful. Love the fabric you're using. I am also enjoying your photos. I'm almost inspired to start taking more myself.

Anonymous said...

Great progress on Tours. I can understand the Monday to Friday feeling, I get that sometimes. I hope next week is better for you. Mmmm, strawberries!

Alice said...

Your stitching is gorgeous! Congrats on the teaching and the weight loss. I love your daily photos. Those strawberries look so delectable! I agree about the whole Friday thing...it sure seems a long way away when Monday first starts.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love ice skating ---- but, I've never had to shovel off my rink. LOL (We skate inside, of course).

The strawberries look lucious. I noticed Pappy's had the sign up that the berries are ready to pick here. If we weren't having such nasty weather, I'd be over there today getting some.

claudia said...

I really identify with you on the being home in the chair cuddled up and doing stitching. I have been doing that very same thing!
Your pictures are great! They all tell a story. Tour is coming along so fast! You are just burning up that needle!
I'm finally back at WW myself, having gained "only" three pounds in the three months I was off. I'm trying to get back with it!

Barbi said...

Tour is coming along beautifully! I can hardly wait to see what you've been able to do with it by the end of the weekend.
I'm with ya on the counting the days though. January always seems to just drag itself along. The day are long and cold here too, so it's nice to have cosy stitchy weekends.

Christine S said...

You're really making excellent progress on Tour! Looks great!

Blu said...

Great progress on Tour. Your photos are always so interesting~

Donna said...

I love old barns too! And the strawberries look yummy!.
You have done a great job on your WIP.

Lynn said...

I'm really enjoying your photos Dani. Maybe I'll give your idea a try.
My focus has been about the same as yours now for more than a year. The goal in life is to get through the work week so I can relax. Work is nothing but stress all the time. It never lets up. Honestly some days I don't even feel like stitching when I get home. Now that's bad!

tkdquintmom said...

Funny...my focus has been the same thing lately. Get through the week, try to survive the weekend, repeat. But stitching hasn't been in any of that. I've had no desire to pick up a needle. I've been forcing myself to do so.

The ease of teaching will come. I love to do it and I'm sure you already know it is a part of the learning process for progression. My poor students felt my pain last night. The only bummer of teaching is that you are focued on the students, not yourself. I was looking forward to some release and wound up doing it on my students. :)

Sara said...

Tour looks great! I'm with you on working toward the weekend- that's pretty much been my biggest goal lately, get to the next day off:)

Cole said...

Tour looks great! And mmmm, those strawberries look yummy!!

Karyn said...

gorgeous photos, look at all the snow, I don't feel so sorry for myself now :)
Great job on the loss :)
Hugs

Karen said...

I can't believe how fast you're making progress on Tour! The pictures are all great. I especially like the barn. I'm fascinated with old barns, too! They have such character and are always such a photo op! I'm struggling with sticking to the picture a day plan, but I've managed to stay pretty much on target with a few slip ups here and there.

Julie said...

Those strawberries, i could have reached into the screen and eaten one!

Terri said...

Dani your stitching is wonderful. Glad the teaching is getting easier. I do miss living in Ontario. I don't drink beer and remember those signs lol. Also I love old barns too :)