Work, Vacation, and Free Time

Sorry for the lack of posting. Things at work have actually picked up. It's been wonderful having the chance to help people and actually do something, but I'm also missing the free time. Again, the best and worst parts of my job are often the same. I get to make my own schedule and can often be home by 3ish or so to start doing my paperwork. But, I make my schedule around my clients going to work, so, depending on the day, that can be painful too. Last week, I watched someone sort clearance items at Macy's for 10 hours altogether. This past week, I drove 45 minutes to Alpharetta to spend Monday-Thurs from 8-12 watching someone put plastic filters together. Next week, I have someone going to work at TJ Maxx and at a nursing home cafeteria. The kicker is that mid-August, someone will be starting a position loading UPS trucks...from 3:45am-8:30am. I'm going to need to be there for at least 3 full shifts. At least I'll get off really early!

We've also been travelling a lot. Last weekend, we met up with all of Jonathan's family in Jacksonville, FL for the weekend. We had a blast hanging out, laughing, and the parents even made up a "newlywed game" for the 4 couples there. Jonathan and I came in second. We got every question right except I answered that he wanted 3 kids instead of 4. Oops! And this afternoon, we leave to go to IA for a family reunion. We're so excited to meet our 1 1/2 month old niece, Domini! Ali has been staying with some friends of ours who have a big house, a dog run, and Charlie, an energetic lab. They said they'd never met another dog who had as much energy as Charlie until Ali. Ali came home from the weekend with them and slept for 2 days straight, not even getting up to greet us when we came home.

A big highlight of the month of July is a sewing class a friend and I have been taking. It's a general intro to sewing class, so I can do some of the things, but most of it is new to me. I'm learning the difference between making something that looks homemade and something that looks professional. Here are a few of the things I've made so far. (You'll notice they progress in skill as I've had more classes.

These are just some normal napkins. I tried to use my thread to draw a star on them, but didn't finish because I wasn't really digging it.

Here's a bib I made for Domini. I wasn't super skilled with the velcro, but everything turned out well.

My favorite: a reversible tote! I adapted the pattern a bit so I could make the purse bigger, and I added a pocket for my cell phone and keys.