Sewing, Chamber Music, and Rock and Roll!

Well, I have not been super great about documenting all of the goals I have been doing, BUT! I have done a few more that I can share.  Today, I wanted to hem some shorts of Jack's, but I couldn't remember how to thread the sewing machine, which my mom gave me a few years ago but which I have only used once.  So I actually threw the sewing machine into the car and took it to Joanne's fabrics, and when I got there I admitted to them that I did not know how to thread it an could they please teach me.  They were very patient, and helped me figure it out, which worked out for them because then I bought a "jelly roll" which is a little collection of coordinating fabrics.  When I got home, I practiced sewing by sewing all the different strips together into a stripy pattern:

Then to finish off the project I sewed the stripy thing I made into a small pillowcase for one of Jack's micro-pillows.

 After that I looked at a few you-tube videos about how to hem pants, and after that I finally hemmed Jack's shorts.  Not professional by any means, but it'll totally work.  So I think I get to cross off "do a project with the sewing machine." 

A few other accomplishments:  I organized a chamber group over the summer with Christina, Amy Jo, and Edie from Orchestra.  We are all violinists, so we are playing quartets for 4 violins, which is pretty fun: some Telemann and Vivaldi, predictably, but also this awesome piece by Grazyna Baciewicz written in the 1940s.  You can listen to it here:

Awesome Baciewicz Quartet

Also, I went to see a rock concert with Almut, Mark, and David.  We saw teh Barenaked Ladies.  It was very entertaining, here is a photo of David and I, and a little clip I took:

Painting Plates or, an exercise in combating perfectionism

Guess what?  Last weekend I took Jack to paint some pottery.  We went to a place that actually glazes and fires the pottery so you can eat off it, it can even go into the microwave.  Jack was in the most horrendous mood ever, I'd let him have screen time half the morning and he was pissed that I was dragging him out of the house and into the world.  When we got there, he picked a plate and started drawing on it with a pencil, and was uber-frustrated when he learned he could not erase anything.  I forced him to carry on amid wails and lamenting (much to the chagrin of the lady working there, and the other customers).  He did comply however, painting in all the shapes he'd planned out, and I helped a bit with the black outlining (just tracing his original graphite, which burns off in the kiln).  In the end, we had a pretty fun time, depsite having to help him calm down repeatedly about mistakes he perceived in his work.  The plates turned out pretty well I think, here is a photo:

I'm not sure he learned his lesson in the end, these came out way more perfect than I anticipated!

New Year's day

For the remainder of 2015 I continued making progress on the 101 goals, to some extent, but I did not keep up with the blog.  Big surprise there.  I thought I would just post a few photos to document the ones I have finished up.   I am optimistic about 2016, even though Danae will be moving to California again.  Sigh.  I guess I always knew we'd end up on opposite coasts.  Nobody's fault really, just life.  It has made me realize though that my resolution to keep investing heavily in my friends here is important, they are awesome and they are the ones that will keep me from being too lonely with entire family on the opposite coast (except Jack of course.  My luck, he'll probably go to college in CA too!!).  Sometimes I am complacent: just sit back and wait for my friends to come to me, but I resolve this year to keep up my end of the bargain.  :-)  But anyhow here goes, in list format (only the photographable goals), and not in chronological order in the least bit:

*  I enrolled Jack in soccer this fall, he loved it

*  We gardened all summer in the community garden, here are a couple photos of the spoils

 

 *  We went camping with Almut and Mark, and David Morin.  The photos were lost though, on my old phone which I left in an airport bathroom.  TSA would not let me backtrack to retrieve it and I lost it.  But I digress... We did also go canoeing on Walden Pond later in the summer, so I am including that photo as a place holder!

*  We made cookies for our next door neighbors

*  I did a watercolor painting with Jack... I should probably take a watercolor class or something, this is downright terrible.  Jack's was pretty good though!

*   I bought some carpets for my house!

*  I took Jack Kayaking.  He even paddled his own boat!

*  I went to a couple of jazz concerts, one with Jack and Pierre and Louise at Ryles, and the other at the reggata bar with David.

*  I visited Flagstaff for Christmas, and took Jack on the Polar Express, it was cool!

*   I went with Almut, Mark, and David to the paint bar

*   I took Mom and Jack and Jack's friend Dylan to a Red Sox Game

There were other goals I finished up, too, but these were the highlights for now.  Cheerio.  My new year's resolution is to continue working on my 101 goals.  Heh, that was easy!  You all should try this 101 project, I really did do some things that I otherwise would not have gotten around to yet!