The Bouncy Castle in Space

swachski said:

Hi gang.

Click to expand...

swachski!

Kitty Pryde said:

I am back to work today (barely). I'm still kind of dazed and tired, and the pollen levels are really high today blah. Also all the children forgot how to do schoolwork and use manners. Oh well.

Writing dramaz: the little 4th grader I got to do NaNoWriMo spent her winter break tearing the house apart looking for her lost NaNo notebook in despair. Her dad looked very frazzled this morning when he came in to the classroom. There was a happy ending this morning when it was discovered in her desk at school. She wrote 2500 words, well more than the 2000 I challenged her to...so now I owe her a NaNo tshirt

my NY resolutions are: lose more weight, finish my own NaNo novel, send lots of queries, and get back into school!

Click to expand...

Glad she found the notebook!

Sorry you're still not feeling very well.

sissybaby said:

I sent a query for a picture book off to a publisher who strictly accepts queries, nothing more.

The following day I received a request for the manuscript.

I know it's a small press, but their illustrators are amazing. The fact that they put out rhyming books is a plus, too.

I'm excited, but the suspense is killing me. I don't know what to expect as far as turn-around for a response, or if they even bother to respond if it isn't to their liking. My only experience with publishers is a snail mail I sent that took six months for a response.

Anyway, lots of bouncing at my house right now.

Click to expand...

Yay! Good luck, sissy!

That's wonderful, Sissy! Congrats!

Fingers crossed for sissybaby. Can't wait to hear more good news!

Congratulations on the requests, Joy and sissybaby!



swachski!

Joy - how delightful it must be to meet someone from AW in the other world! I've invited friends to join us here, but I don't know if any have or not. (they may lurk around here to see if I talk about them). But it would be fun to have coffee with other AWers from time to time. That's great for you.

Congrats Sissy! I hope for the best for you!

Hi I'm back from holiday vacation! Sounds like a lot has been going on while I was away.

Joy and Sissy- huge congrats to you guys! I hope everything goes well with your projects!

As for my new years resolution, I'm going to watch more Spanish cartoons with my son so he acquires the language instead of learning it later. We'll see how it goes.

Since I wasn't here to say it before, Happy (late) New Year!

Just thought I'd bounce a bit. It's turned out to be a good week, after all, once I rebounded from the rejection. I finished sewing my first skirt, and it fits! Looks pretty darn cute with my new boots, too. I used to be a mad seamstress: worked my way through college working in fabric stores, made my sister's wedding dress and my own, etc. Then my kids came along, and life got complicated. I didn't have any place to keep pins and scissors safe from little fingers, plus my now-ex wasn't very supportive of my need for any creative time. So... except for one Halloween costume a couple years ago, I hadn't sewn anything in about 16 years. I'd forgotten how much fun it is!

And I did make it to 5K in 48 hours, and I know how to approach the next 2-3K of my WIP. So by the end of the weekend, I'll be close to the word count I had before I tore the whole thing apart to send it in a new direction.

So everybody should have a Lacey cookie. They're the ones with the crispy/crunchy buttery almond toffee circle drenched in dark chocolate... very tasty.

I'm sew glad you got to sew. I love sewing too. I have two skirts all ready and cut out, waiting patiently for me to sew them. My problem is that I have a brand new sewing machine that is too complicated, I don't know how to use it. (Yeah, I know, poor me.) I have to watch a dvd. I just bought fabric to go in my rebuilt house. Not sure what I will do with it, but I bought a piece of fabric for each room. I have to pick paint to match it now. These are my decorating inspiration pieces. I'm trying to pick paint for all of the rooms in my house. (We had a fire.) Kind of fun, kind of overwhelming.

Thanks for the lacey cookie. Love those.

I wrote a few K this weekend too. And I'm going to write more today.

Congrats Ms. Judy!

Up to 9,000 words, hoping to hit 10k by tomorrow.

Anyone watching the Republican debate on Meet the Press?

Anyone watching the Republican debate on Meet the Press?

Click to expand...

No, but I wanted to. We don't have cable, just Netflix.

Laura J said:

My problem is that I have a brand new sewing machine that is too complicated, I don't know how to use it.

Click to expand...

Tell me about it! I foolishly let my sister give me her hand-me-down machine, and got rid of my good old reliable one. This one does all kinds of embroidery stitches I'm never going to use, and it tries to think for you, and all the buttons are in the wrong places... and if she ever gave me the instruction manual, I don't where I put it. So I had to go online and download a new one. Good thing, too. I had the bobbins in backwards...

Ooh, ooh, I sew too! I always swore I'd never do anything crafty and then a couple years ago, I learned to sew. I love it! I'm excited, too, because for my upcoming birthday my mom's paying to have my serger fixed. I have the most basic of sewing machines, but I do love my serger for making clothes for the kids!

ooh, a serger. I have always wanted one of those. I sew a lot for my business and better learn how to use this one before I reopen.

My biggest accomplishment today is to only eat two spoonfuls of strawberry frosting instead of three. Must...not...eat...frosting. But, it is so good. The cupcakes were not good, I threw them out, but the icing is really good. Hey, butter, sugar, strawberries, if it were wrapped in plastic, it would be candy right? So, it is okay.

I sewed all the time for my girls, but never tried anything for my son other than the obligatory halloween costumes.

My younger daughter is built like a model, so she's always been easy to sew for. She's always loved playing dress-up, and insisted I make her Junior prom dress. She picked out pink satin with all these spangly things in the fabric.

I'd never sewn fancy fabric before, and even with a 50% off coupon, the dress cost way more than was in my budget. After I got it all cut out, I wisely (totally not me) decided to try some of the scraps out first to see how it sewed. Globbed all up into my machine in a horrible mass of mess!

In a panic, I called an elderly friend who does alterations and recovers furniture, etc. She told me to get a cheap bar of Ivory soap and run the needle through it several times every little bit. Only had to do it twice. The dress was beatiful, daughter was thrilled, and mom was happy - especially since I wasn't out the cost of the fabric and a new store-bought dress.

But I can't sew for myself. I have a really weird body and nothing ever fits me right.

My grandmother was a great seamstress, but I barely passed ninth grade home ec. That empire-waist jersey dress--NOT a good final project choice. *shudder*. In my younger days I would occasionally think, I'm a smart person, surely I can figure out this pattern. And I would try again. Nope--now I admit that gene must have passed me by! I have the utmost admiration for those of you who can sew and actually enjoy it!

I've tried to learn to sew, I really have. My eldest sister and my mother both sew. I'm horrible at it, though.

Sewing, drawing, and singing--three talents I will never possess.

Sewing by machine, not my forte. Sewing by hand however, passable.

My mom was a seamstress, and she made me many things when I was growing up. She made Halloween costumes, dresses, skirts, my prom dress, and even my wedding dress! Though I can't say that I have her talent, I can at least say that I'm good at mending things. My husband just the other day tore a five inch hole in the bottom of his brand new, rather expensive jacket. When I finished sewing, I could see where the tear was, but my husband couldn't. While that doesn't mean I'm a good seamstress, at least I'm able to keep our clothing expenses down!

I can sew on buttons, and I'm an decent darner, but I don't think I'd ever be able to mend a five-inch hole in a jacket. I could write about someone who could, though. Does that count for anything?

Ugh, Monday. I think the phrase good morning is an oxymoron. It's hard to bounce this early.

I'm writing for the first time in days. My goal for the day is 2k words and to finish this first chapter. I hope, hope, hope I've got the hang of showing more than telling.

I'm pretty much in your boat Ferret, I can sew a button, stitch up rips, and hem a pair of pants (I'm terribly short legged). Other than that, I let my mother handle most of the sewing. I'm better at repairing holes in fences or roofs or building arbors. I kinda have man hands

Ahoy! The kids at school have been highly entertaining...they are giving me plenty of fodder for a new novel The tiniest and loudest and bossiest girl in the second grade got in trouble the other day because she got mad that it was another kid's turn to take the class beetle home*, so she stole it. The beetle went missing, and this little girl was caught during after-school because her backpack was so big from the terrarium inside, and she had been cranky about the beetle earlier. She really ought to be a fictional character. She's got far too much personality for one teensy little person.

*it is huge and has revolting fat claw legs, I can barely even stand to look at it.

For all of you who sew well,

If you made the smiley below bashing a sewing machine, that's how I feel when I try to sew. I bought a machine because my daughter wanted to learn, and I'm old enough to be one of that group who had to take home ec in school because girls weren't allowed to take shop, but I just find it so frustrating!!!!



ETA: Kitty, that's hilarious!!!!

Kitty Pryde said:

Ahoy! The kids at school have been highly entertaining...they are giving me plenty of fodder for a new novel The tiniest and loudest and bossiest girl in the second grade got in trouble the other day because she got mad that it was another kid's turn to take the class beetle home*, so she stole it. The beetle went missing, and this little girl was caught during after-school because her backpack was so big from the terrarium inside, and she had been cranky about the beetle earlier. She really ought to be a fictional character. She's got far too much personality for one teensy little person.

*it is huge and has revolting fat claw legs, I can barely even stand to look at it.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a great story. Sometimes I wish I was still teaching. Though I teach at our homeschool co-op, lots of very entertaining kids there too.

Ahhh, school. I miss being a substitute teacher. Hilarious story Kitty

I bought a machine because my daughter wanted to learn, and I'm old enough to be one of that group who had to take home ec in school because girls weren't allowed to take shop, but I just find it so frustrating!!!!

Click to expand...

Oh, Don't feel bad Amarie I graduated in 07' and they barely let girls take shop then either. I can't say anything though, I was lucky enough to take Creative Writing I-IV.