(Lulu at work with me last week)
You all know I work part time as a speech therapist.
I love what I do.
I visit dirty, smelly daycares and my boss told me when he hired me that I needed to remember that in many cases, I would be the most enriching part of that kid's week. But I love it. It has been such an answer to prayer, fitting into the flexibility of my life with toddlers and now a preschooler while still paying the bills, getting me out of the house and stretching my skills.
In June, anticipating Hawaii, I started feeling pretty desperate for a break from work.
I knew I needed a vacation. I needed a break from the reality of miserable house selling, packing and moving apartments to escape hellish neighbors, and general life frustration. I lumped my work into that and ran screaming into the arms of palm trees and really good books.
Two weeks before Hawaii, you see, I found out that my boss was shutting down his practice.
I was essentially laid off.
I wanted to call the bank and say, see? I really DO need that short sale because our situation has become even more desperate than before!
There were immediate rumors that the other PT in the practice was interested in buying it from him, saving all of our jobs and even possibly kicking the clinic up a notch. But it was several stressful weeks before we heard for sure. Laura did indeed buy the practice, I did indeed get to keep my job, and the transition at the clinic has felt nearly seamless. I'm excited for the changes she will make and I'm so honored that I get to stick around. The transition has not been seamless on my schedule though. In the process, we lost one of the daycares where we used to see kids and it was essentially 80% of my caseload.
In one day, I went from making my own schedule, seeing kids on my own time, and being my own boss, to being at the mercy of the clinic and hoping there were extra kids there that I could see! I am working odd hours all over the place trying to get enough hours. Especially after an expensive month like Hawaii June, this blow to my caseload came at an awful time. I am a contract therapist, if I don't see a kid, I don't make money. A week in Hawaii equals 1/2 a paycheck lost. So, July was nerve wracking in yet another way.
Laura has been amazing though. She has worked tirelessly to get me the hours that I need and to build back up my caseload. Hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll have a consistent schedule again. I need it. And Lucy needs her naps back!
I find it interesting and humbling that my cry for a break from work was really only a lesson in how much I need to work, how much my family depends on my work, and how blessed I am to work with these amazing therapists. I've worked in beautiful clinics, amazing hospitals, sparkly clean schools, but I'm most at home right where I am right now.
I finished my pinwheels last night! I finished machine quilting it Saturday and put on the binding last night. I love it so much!
she looks how we all feel this week! 
she loved wearing her birthday "grel" crown. i made a birthday banner (in the background) but i haven't gotten a good picture of it yet.
she was overjoyed with her toys and has been toting around mermaids, fairies, and a baby Cinderella ever since! and any day is made better with a good birthday Jessie shirt! :)
for dinner that night, we took her to "Bob's Pizza" which is really Larry's Pizza buffet where the girls eat pepperoni pizza to their hearts' content and top it off with chocolate chip pizza (or in Lu's case eat mostly that all night! :) we even got to eat dinner with some friends and family who also were there celebrating a birthday! thanks Sharps!
my birthday grel was a happy princess. i'm so thankful for these three. they make my world go round.
is now this! oh, how i miss this little snuggly baby!
i love the sandi henderson prints (the henna print and the big flowers) that i found in my scraps-the last of a few of my all time faves!
this yellow is my current favorite square.
this one is a bit of an homage to my 12squared block from June for Becca
i laid them all out last night and pieced three more squares. this truly is an illness. and for the record, my house is a MESS!
Alas, I measured wrong and it was too small. I growled and maybe shed a tear or two. (no, not pregnant!) and then I walked away for a day. And got feedback from Dad. He liked the beige fabric on the sides the best and didn't need the piecing. He may have mentioned "pleather" somewhere in there, but I refused.
Hooray! Hooray! A {{perfect}} fit!
I lined it with soft flannel to keep the cover from getting scratched. Plus it has quilted batting for extra protection.
And really, one can see how it wouldn't fit once you put them side by side. Stupid seam allowances!!!
I hope he likes his "boring" and "manly" ipad cover. 
I also love these squares because I've been adding a few pieces from my mom's stash-so far each square has a bit of her in it too!
This was my first one. The directions say to baste around the edge of the color to hold down the batting but I found just pinning it worked better for me.
As you can see, I used batting on each square like the original directions from from stitched in color. I thought I'd try it, and I love it!!! I love the dimension it gives to the ticker tape pieces. I still have my doubts about how thick it's going to be at each seam between squares but we'll see.
Mom and Dad offered to take us to a show, and with raving recommendations, we went to....
yes, yes, we did!
and it was AWESOME!!!!!!
We sat around an arena, we cheered for the South, and booed the North!
yes, yes, we did!
we were served this yummy yummy dinner, to eat with our hands! :)
we watched a show of the history of the wild west, followed by a skirmish between the north and south, complete with pig races, horse races, barrel races, carriage races, and dancing and singing to boot!
It was a blast and we highly recommend it!
Poison Study by Maria Snyder sucked me in from page one! I loved the intrigue. I wanted to know what was going to happen with each character and I had fun guessing! I loved the characters in this, from the murderer-turned-food-taster to the assassin-turned-politician. I love the friends she makes and how they learn more about themselves as Yelena pushes herself. I was happy to see them in the next book!
I dove into the second book, which had a slower start but then grabbed me and I couldn't put it down either! It is a bit racier than the first book, but still not at all rated R. I loved the concept of magic in this book. That it is all around us, and we draw from it to perform magic and control the world around us. It isn't something conjured with a wand. I like that. I was happy to see the relationships she builds with her family when she had never had family that she could remember.
I was excited to read Fire Study but somewhat disappointed. It felt like Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay where it just rushed from one disaster to the next while she tried to fit everything in! I loved these character so much in the first two novels, that I was disappointed with the rush job that seemed like neverending conflict. I grew tired of Yelena's "I have to save the world and OBVIOUSLY I'm the only one who CAN!" attitude that I feel is in a lot of female protagonist books...at least the ones I've been choosing lately! :)
It's the gourmet Vegetarian, but we add chicken to it... because I love chicken.
