whoooooo hooooooo!

thanks for all the support, fwends.  i am officially hired by the VSB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah.

now, whether i get to teach that sewing class in the fall i won’t know for a bit, since another instructor has already expressed interest.  but, we did chat about designing a saturday morning sewing class for kids to teach this fall.  sew there you go (har har).

question o’ the day:  what is your “favourite” interview question?  i say “favourite” so that you can take it facetiously, should you so choose.

like a rolla coasta

greetings fwends, countrymen and out-of-countrymen. i have been a little lax on the postage as of late: alas, i have been swept up by the ups and downs of busyness. Thus, this evening, i proffer for your perusal a little update.

first, the saga with the sewing machine.

So it was that my sewing machine was returned to me by the nice people at pfaff. with a new bobbin case (thanks, isabelle) and all its settings tuned. as in, all the settings changed. as in, i couldn’t get it to gather the shirring elastic. as in, i phoned the store several times in a near frenzy, finally descending upon them on thursday afternoon, machine and failed sewing in hand (thanks again, isabelle, for entertaining the small people). after a good 20 minutes of work, the lovely sabina and i were stumped. fortunately, the store employs a veritable dame of fabric artistry, a mysterious guru known as “Barb”. Barb said that we were missing the crucial second step in the shirring process, which, should you care to know it, involves steaming the elastic once it is sewn into the garment. skeptical, sabina and i fired up the steamer. and lo, the miracle happened. a dress that i had written off as too loose, gathered itself into beautiful, stretchy folds of loveliness. yippeee!!!!!

so, that’s all to say that i did indeed finish the three dresses in time to hand them off on friday evening. which i did, just as jaegen and i picked up our nieces and nephew for a weekend of fun chez Milley (at the cabin, that is.) there, we had a fantastic time, savouring papa’s famous pancakes, playing in the sand, fishing, cake decorating, and generally making merry. (see pics below)

cut to yesterday: a whirlwind of socializing upon our return, an unintentionally hilarious movie experience, and good times with grown-ups (shout out to maddison, babysitter extraordinaire)

today: a popsicle-full birthday celebration across town

so, where am i now? well, i’m about to finish sewing a skirt for myself, and then it’s off to bed. i trust that all of you are well, and look forward to seeing some of you soon.

‘There were 6 in the bed, and the little one said…………”

ah…whipping cream. an essential complement to papa’s pancakes. so, how many milleys does it take to whip some cream?

Answer(s): “A lot.” or, “how many milleys you got?”

some good close-ups.

Beach time: Check out C’s new camera!

and, last but not least, my boys.

Question o’ the day: Where’s your favourite Canadian getaway?

a yearly tradition

for three years now, we’ve taken agatha to the children’s festival.  this year, we all went.  it was damp, in true vancouver fashion, but we had a good time just moseying about, harassing “Salty” the Port of Vancouver seagull mascot, eating cotton candy and mini donuts, and generally just chillaxin’ kid style in vanier park.

Part of the Milley kids’ fest schtick is to avail ourselves of  the “Self Serve” (their name, not ours) facepainting.  As per usual, Edmund was skeptical about the proceedings…

“Really, dad, do they look like elephants, or are you just making a mockery of my ridiculously good-looking face?”

Even purple paint besmeared, he’s still a handsome kid, if i do say so myself. (and clearly, i do.)

Agatha comes prepared with a plan, and hopefully, i delivered–you can decide:

But, perhaps, no tradition is more important than that of agatha getting to paint my face.  last year, if you recall, she was a bit hesitant.  this year, she took to my face with bold and goopy strokes.  (ps btw, you wouldn’t believe the looks i got.  it’s amazing how few parents let their kids accost them in this way, which we think is a bit odd, since it is a festival for children, apres all. but that’s an editorial for another day   enough with my yammering, behold, my 2008 Agatha Original Face:

and that’s after the rain had toned it down some.  it does wonders as an Anti-Vanity treatment, let me just say.  especially b/c the paint doesn’t wash off that easily.

ah well…

Question o’ the day:  do you have a memory of a favourite traditional outing from childhood?  if so, do share…

also, i’ve loved your answers lately.  so lyrical, so humourous…you should all have blogs! thank you for taking the time to connect with me in this way.  it means a lot.

mama said there’d be days like this…

as in, It’s 4 pm and you’ve spent all afternoon trying to finish sewing so you can finally send these little dresses to their new homes, only to realize that that jackhammering sound the machine is making is bad news. bad news. as in, all-your-work-will-need-to-be-ripped-out-and-you’ll-find-yourself-on-a-bus-in-rush-hour-with-a-

sewing-machine-in-a-stroller-and two-newly-woken-children-racing-to-a-store-that’s-about-to-close kind of bad news. that kind of day is the kind of day i had today. oy.

how about you? what’s up with you lot?

about that work that needs to be ripped out. allow me to display the lovely stitching, before i attack it with a sharply-pointed sewing implement:

ain’t it purdy?

here some other finishing details that i’ve been working away on:

may the sewing gods shine upon me, and deliver unto me a sturdy, repaired machine by tomorrow afternoon…

I gots to get paid

just a quick blurb today.  I am currently completing my 3 commissioned dresses, reading an engrossing novel (Shadow of the Wind–lame title, fun bookish mystery), and receiving emails asking for a job interview (to teach intro sewing in the fall–cross your fingers, people).  i will also be subbing at the sewing class next week (ca-ching) which is perhaps the easiest job in the whole world.  i get to hang out with fun people and do something i love….dude, i am feeling so grateful right now, i can barely cope.

question o’ the day:  what do you do when it’s hot outside? hmmmm?

p.s. shout out to miranda; you go Dr. Dr.!!! (she’s finishing up the first “Dr”,(which sounds vaguely obscene but isn’t) and just got accepted to do the second (which sounds even more so, but still isn’t)…..she rocks.)

Here’s a little story about a card called, “Moo”.

I’ll let the photos do the talking…

So, what do you think?

Oh, and I almost forgot:emma gets credit for the fantastic photos on the cards….

check out the new fabrics on the agatha blog!

A full week

it’s been busy, but good. Here are some photos to update you on the various happenings:

I have begun re-working the sundress I was making for lovely lulu–let’s hope the finished top fits.

In the hacking process, I was able to salvage the brown linen fabric, and make a fantastic skirt from a pattern that conveniently arrived in the mail. I’m going to make it again and again; i just love it.

Of course, i adorned it with buttons, b/c i love them immoderately, and they make a lovely jingling sound when i walk.

In fact, I like it so much I’ve already worn it twice. (the above photo was taken (covertly) by vanessa). (I think the sunglasses make me look like Edmund’s bodyguard.)

Other domestic news items: We found a new favourite book,

and we shared some good times with old friends

(Notice Agatha’s puffy and scratched upper lip.  Her right front tooth is brown and wiggly after a rather epic collision with the sidewalk thursday evening.)

and dear ones (Rigolos). (again, vanessa gets props for the photo)

Agatha made me a lovely Mother’s Day present at preschool, and was very excited to tell me that she’s “practicing her hugs” for showing me on Sunday how much she loves me. Hopefully, there’ll be hugs for other days as well.

Other things: I got a business number, and a website: www.agathadesigns.com It’s under construction, but i will have a blog there shortly, until i can get a storefront up and running. I should be posting photos of fabric choices and designs today or early next week. I am likewise discovering what a frenetic and complicated world is textile production and distribution. oy. let’s hope i can speedily acquire the skills necessary to keep doing what i so obviously love.

So, that about sums up our crazy week. I hope that all of you are enjoying this belated springtime.

Question o’the Day: What do you most look forward to in spring? flowers? picnics? rain? do share.

Because *every* idea isn’t bound to be a success

right?  i worked for hours yesterday on this grown-up sundress, and, in the end, had to admit it just wasn’t working.  all night i tossed and turned, wondering what i could do to make it work.  but i can’t.  so linds, i’ll be trying to make a one-sided top for you today, okay?  how’s that for obsessive angst, everyone?

continuing the theme of being thwarted, question o’ the day:  what was the last good idea you had that didn’t turn out so well?

When Jenn Tries to Take a Nap…

she ends up thinking of metaphors. isn’t that just the way?

Actually, I lay awake thinking about how I have a well-meaning but unhelpful desire to rescue people. I began to imagine that all of us, without God, are like…uh oh, here comes the walter wangerin part…blades of grass. bear with me. I mean, grass is pretty ephemeral: it can be crushed, burnt, bent, and broken, all quite easily. I think that the deep insecure parts of ourselves are like that too–we don’t believe we’re lovable, we’re convinced that we’re not worthy, we don’t like the things we’ve said or done. Or, things that have been said or done to us have wounded us in some fundamental way. so, we spend a lot of time trying to bolster up this fragile self. We set about trying to be good at everything, we collect as many friends as possible hoping for them to validate us, we lose ourselves in romantic relationships. On a more extreme level, some of us turn to drugs and alcohol, hoping that being the life of the party will give us substance, make us real and important. But really, in the end, all these serious, ridiculous, or destructive things we do, are just like trying to hold up a blade of grass with a toothpick (or, several toothpicks, as the case may be). it works for a moment or two, but the next big thing just knocks the little shoot flat.

What we really want is to be grounded, to be rooted (pun intended) in the things that give us meaning and purpose. what we really want is to be a tree. and the more i thought about this metaphor, straining it as i am some times wont to do, the more i saw that the only way to be a tree, is to grasp onto the fact that we are each loved and known by god. that he/she sees and loves our present frustrated and flawed selves, and that perfect self we so long to be. it’s a bolstering truth, one that moves from the inside out, giving us both roots and stability. we can finally stop constructing ourselves as competent, or fun, or lovable, or attractive, or victimized, or… we can begin to know our individual places in the universe.

it doesn’t mean that we aren’t buffeted by sorrow, regret, pain, and the rest of the tough and traumatic. but where we were once leveled by every sorrow, every slight, we are now only bowed for a time. because you can hack off limbs, and it’s still a stong, beautiful tree. it can withstand fantastic winds and storms and drought. you can even make a stump out of it, and that tree will keep trying to grow again.

so, i want to be tree. not a toothpick, as i try to be sometimes for others, and definitely not a blade of grass. it’s hard for me to share all this with you, as i so loathe the cliched spiritual reflection kind of blogging thing, and i know that i write to people (whom i know and care about) who have a variety of ideas about faith. that said, i can’t take any of this back. it’s authentically me and i’m not going to apologize for it. nevertheless, know that whatever you believe, your beliefs and opinions matter to me, however much you might disagree with what i’m posting.

question o’ the day: what do you think about when you try unsuccessfully to nap?