Friday, July 26, 2019

Summer crafting updates...

Happy Friday everyone! We're coming up on the last weekend in July, which is an art festival weekend for my dance studio every year. Although I love dancing, I have to admit that doing so outside in heat and humidity is not my favorite. But I'm sure that it'll go great, and that I'll have a wonderful time with my dance girls. Updates on that next week, festival weekends are always amusing. :-0

I promised a craft update this week, and in between dance rehearsals, that has been keeping my mind and hands busy, which is a good thing. As otherwise, I'd be a puddle of worry by the end of the summer. ;-)

Summer is always Harry Potter time in my house, and we re-watch all of the movies and I continue on my quest to read the entire series. This summer, I'm reading Half Blood Prince. I'm going to be honest and admit that I could not finish Order of the Phoenix last year, and I feel super guilty about this. 😬 From what I hear from others, I am not alone in my feelings that, although the story was compelling, this particular book was just far too long. I kept reading, and reading, and reading, and my Kindle progress would move up a single percentage point. 😂 I think I got to about 70-75% when I finally gave up. It just wasn't holding my interest, and consequently, I wasn't picking it up enough and my progress got even SLOWER. Half Blood Prince is going WAY better, and I'm already quite absorbed in the story.

When we start re-watching the movies, I start wanting to create some Harry Potter crafts. And so here we have Hedwig:


Pattern is Hedwig the Owl, by Erin Shirley, available for free!
Don't you just love her wings?!


Anne, who was clamoring to bring this Hedwig up to bed with her that night, was trying to make the case that Hedwig didn't need wings, but let's be real. Hedwig has to deliver the mail, she needs wings. ;-)

Since I had originally intended Hedwig for my desk at work, and Anne stole her, I decided to make another one. This one has different eyes, so Hedwig #2 has her own new look:


She's keeping me company at work and I just love her. *heart*

Over in my Hogwarts at Ravelry group (where I'm Gryffindor Head Girl *beams*) I'm participating in a Mystery Knit-along and Mystery Crochet-along hosted by Ravenclaw. Both items are dishcloths, and clues are being released one per week, alternating between the cloths. This has been a lot of fun! This is the in-progress MKAL cloth:

Definitely looks like a bird :-0
And this is the MCAL cloth:


The clue that we'll be receiving this weekend is for the MCAL, so that will be the one to grow this week. I love how the variegated colors are working up on that one! Yarn is Knit Picks' Dishie Multi in Cabin (colorway is unfortunately discontinued).

In non-Harry Potter Land, I'm working diligently on the back piece of Mike's long awaited cabled cardigan:

Pattern is 0-850 Rambling Man, by Drops Design, and is available for free!
I'm taking my time with this, but I'm determined to finish it up for Christmas! I'm almost to where I'll need to divide for the arm holes, so I have to figure out how to do that. ;-)

And finally, the long term work-in-progress I decided to pick up this summer in order to finish for fall, is this:

Looks like an unexciting rectangle, I know
Although this currently looks like nothing special, it will ultimately turn into an adorable poncho, perfect for autumn:

Pattern is Oakwood Poncho, by Nikki Wagner, available via Knit Picks
Rather than the blue, gray and black stripes you see in the original pattern, I chose forest green, burgundy and brown stripes for mine. I'm excited to see how it turns out! I'm just now diving for the front panels, so things have gotten more interesting!

I'm really happy with my summer crafting plans. I also have additional Christmas gift ideas, which will be implemented very soon.

😇

Do you have late summer crafting or gardening plans? I'd love to hear them!

Thursday, July 18, 2019

New news on my book! And assorted other family updates...

Happy July heat wave, everybody, and hope you are doing well this week! We're busy, busy as always, but somewhat less hectic than last week. Anne made it though Girl Scout camp, and now this week Henry is working at his new Catholic high school, earning a bit of credit towards his tuition (which we definitely need him to keep doing). The school is quite close to our house, so this week's morning routine is vastly improved over Girl Scout week! Mike's summer teaching schedule changes after this week, too. He's teaching 2 classes right now, but they finish up today, and starting next week he'll just be teaching a section of Logic each morning. Easier schedules make for overall family happiness, to be sure.

For my part, I'm hanging in there with all of the emotional changes and doing pretty well with it.

*virtual fist bump*

Working quite hard on dance, I'll have a full post devoted to that sometime this summer. I've also been busily crafting. I'll likely post an update on that next week.

In other news, my book, and indeed the entire Stay Connected Journals series, is now being published by Our Sunday Visitor. This is a large Catholic publisher, and we're quite thrilled that they've been picked up by OSV! So my book now has a new home on Amazon, and the price is just $11.95. It's also for sale in OSV's shop, and they offer free shipping on all of their books. :-) This is a happy place for the books, and we're excited to see what the new publisher will do with them. I was on their webcast yesterday as part of OSV's author series to talk about the series and about my book specifically. You can view the recorded webcast by registering for the event here. :)

I just absolutely love this beautiful trio of books as a great gift idea, and I really hope that small group Bible studies get something out of them. It's such an exciting collaboration to be a part of, and I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of this project.

For my own part, I'd really like to get back to daily scripture reading, but that has decidedly not been happening. This is all on my own (part of the problem) because I don't have a small group study that I'm a part of. How about you? Do you attend a faith sharing or Bible study group of any kind? What type of routine works for you in terms of adding scripture reading to your day? I'd love to hear what works for you!

Thursday, July 11, 2019

July always needs some St. Kateri...

http://catholicmom.com/2019/07/08/a-special-devotion-for-july/
Hey everyone, and welcome to a humid and uncomfortable early-July edition with the Catholic Librarian. :-0 Thank you so much to everyone who reached out and wished me well following my post last week about my upcoming adventures as a finalist in my very first (and let's be real, probably only) dance competition!  I'm super nervous about it. 😬 But I'm grateful for the opportunity. I'll definitely devote a whole post to my preparation process sometime this summer! Finals are in late September.

😬😬😬

But onward and upwards! This is a summer of many changes, as I've talked about several times in recent weeks. The kids are growing and changing soooo quickly. Anne is at Girl Scout camp this week, and she had a rough first day. 😢 My kids are both introverts, just like Mike and I, and so new situations, especially those that:

(a) involve lots of unknown people,
(b) are loud, and
(c) involve games and singing

...are very hard on them. I completely relate to this, and I'm a soft touch, so tears of not wanting to go back make me want to crumble. But of course, perseverance is also important (she wanted to go to this camp, I wouldn't have signed up up otherwise) and so I told her that she needed to give it at least 1 more day. If after the second day it was clear that it was a bad fit and was actively making her miserable, I would not have pushed her. But the first day is never a perfect indicator of how things will be going forward, you need to give it just a wee bit more time. So I took her on the second day feeling uber guilty, and she came home exhausted and hangry again. However, she also chirped on about the woodsy things that they had done, the other girls, and the homemade beef and macaroni dish they had for lunch. She had a good time. And wanted to go back the next day.

HUGE sigh of relief. But the week has been emotionally draining as a result. Therefore my July piece over at CatholicMom comes at a perfect time and on an ideal topic. St. Kateri is a huge source of consolation for me, as I mention in this article (and there is a link back to the original piece fully detailing St. Kateri's place in my and my family's faith journey in there), and right now, I need her more than ever. So, if you need a dose of St. Kateri too, I'd love it if you would check out my piece over there. Comments on the CatholicMom website are always super welcome!

Who are you favorite summer saints? My kids' feast days are also in July: St. Henry on July 13th, and Sts. Anne and Joachim on July 26th. July is a great saint month. 😀

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Is there such a thing as too much dance excitement? A tale of exciting anxiety :0

Well, I'm here to tell you that there is. 😂 This week, I think we need wine instead of hot cocoa, but whatever your preference, settle in for a chat!


My mind has been all a whirl for quite some time now. There have been so many changes, as I've spoken of recently. And more are to come, as Henry starts high school this fall, Mike will begin a new teaching position, and even my own teaching responsibilities will look somewhat different next semester due to changes in the way our program will be administered. It's just a lot to deal with for someone who is quite averse to change. :-0

And then there's dance changes. Dance has been a constant in my life for just over 10 years now, and it was a staple in my childhood as well. It's something that has given me stability in my active life, and inspiration in my creative life. Those two things have grown over the most recent 3-5 years, for sure. I've kept on tackling new challenges in dance, and it has been the best thing that I have ever done.

I remember when I was in the beginner class thinking that all of the people who performed at haflas were so brave, that I could never do that. Well. 😳

I did that, and it was a downright BIG DEAL, performing with my class for the very first time. That's a HARD thing to do, I think back on it so fondly when I see new students at the studio getting the jitters about this, because I so completely understand. To be sure, I STILL get performance jitters before dancing. As in, major ones. But we'll come back to that.

So, first I took the leap and began performing with my class at haflas. Then I moved up to the troupe, and it was a given that I would perform more with them, since they perform at festivals and other events. At that point, that was a pretty seamless and natural transition. Also, right around that same time, I tried something ELSE I swore I'd never do: I performed a solo. THAT was a really huge milestone, if I'm being honest. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done in dance; to look out and see everybody waiting for you to start, because, you know, it's just YOU out there and they're all. Looking. At. YOU.

😬

It was scary, for a shy person, it must be said. But I did it. That was one of my proudest dance moments. I did a solo at every hafla after that, and I remember each of them. But that first one holds a special place in my heart.

After a few years, I got my first pro restaurant gig, and I have to say, that was a pretty scary leap too. 😂 And my pro experiences built up pretty slowly, so in-between those gigs it was like I was starting from scratch, sick to my stomach before each event and/or New Year's Eve. But I made it, and I got better at it, and I was proud.

And then, well. I did something a little crazy. I entered a dance competition.

😨😨😨

I'm not really sure why I did that. :-0 Well, my mentors encouraged me to, and this particular one is fairly local to us, AND the first stage involved simply filming and entering a video. Pshaw, I said. A video? I can do that. Well.

It's not as easy as it sounds. :-0 And you all know me, I'm an improvisational dancer. I LOVE to improvise, I'm good at it, and I feel comfortable doing it. What I'm NOT good at is creating choreography, and that's what I needed to do for this video. I mean, I *suppose* you could improvise in this situation, but that didn't strike me as a good idea for a competition. You want to assure that you showcase a range of movements and musical expressions, and with improvisation, you never know what the heck is going to happen. You may plan certain parts of it, to fit specific spots in the music, but in the moment, you may or may not remember to do those things. At least if my improv experience is any indication. It makes for beautiful, emotive, dancing, but in this particular case, it didn't seem to be the right fit. So I chose music and started a choreography. 5 months later...

:-0

I finished and filmed the video. 😂 For 3 minutes of choreography, yes, it took me 5 months. Because I kept changing and fine tuning things, and then I wanted to work on my technique and expression within the choreography. That took a lot out of me, I tell you. :-0 This was HARD! Really, really hard. And then the filming itself.

My teacher helped me to film the video. She has better equipment then I have, and offered up the studio as a nice big spot to film. This was fantastic, especially since the alternative was my small living room. We filmed 3 takes, and they went as follows:

Take 1: Went well, but I was nervous and stiffer in my execution.

Take 2: I'm all relaxed and into it. My favorite take by far. Figuring I'll use this one.

Take 3: I'm all sweaty and exhausted, and the adrenaline is starting to wear off. But I film one more just in case. I have a memory lapse towards the end, and forget a movement, but keep going. No matter, because I'm not using that one anyway.

A few days later, I look at the takes:

Take 1: is fine, but I know I can do better.

Take 2: Approximately 25 seconds into the 3 minute video, a thick portion of hair sticks to the sweat on my forehead and lodges there quite noticeably. All glamour, all the time, over here. I figure the hair flips and such I have coming up will fix that, but NOPE. It stays there for the entire.rest.of.the.song. Crap!

Take 3: I'm sweaty. But clearly more relaxed. There's that mistake at the end that doesn't look noticeable to the outside observer, but *I* notice it and it's bugging me. Now what?!

😭

This was all very stressful, I tell you. Sure, I could re-film, but my teacher had warned me about this phenomena: when you care about your art, there comes a point after which, when you have to ability to keep trying, you'll never be happy with it. You care so much that you always feel that it can be better. But at a certain point you have to call it enough. And that's where I was at. Plus, I did not want to inconvenience my teacher to take time out of her busy schedule to film me again. So I did the only sensible thing:

I roped my long suffering husband into moving the carpet and furniture out of our small living room so that I could do another take there. :-0

That was an amusing morning, it must be said. Me in a belly dance costume at 8 am, Mike rolling up an area rug and wedging the coffee table into our hallway. And both of us rigging up my small iPad mini to try and film. The things we'll do for love. Well.

The experience was worthwhile, but I didn't end up using that video. The picture and sound quality were just so much lower, and though we tried to control the natural light, it was still reflecting in at a bad angle and washing me out on one side of the room. I was glad that I had tried, because it made me feel like I had at least exhausted every possibility. And in comparing the videos, it made me appreciate the studio videos anew.

So what did I end up picking? Take 3, of course. I had a few friends watch them, and my teachers, and all picked Take 3 as their favorite. So I submitted that one and tried not to obsess about it. That was the end of May.

In June: Well OK, I obsessed a *little*, but I really think I kept it reigned in pretty well. :-0

Then on Monday, I got word: I was chosen as a finalist in my category. And I now have to perform live in September for the final round of the competition.

And this is the point at which we circle back to the performance jitters issue. WHAT ON EARTH WAS I THINKING?! Now I have to go perform in a competition and I'm scared to death! 😂 Why do I torture myself this way?!

Because if we don't challenge ourselves, we won't grow. And if we don't grow, our art will die. When we grow, we are alive. And that's a good, good feeling, even if it's mixed with nausea. ;-)

The process of working on the choreography, and working to improve my dance within it, was more beneficial than I could have possibly realized. And even if nothing more comes of it than the stage I'm at right now (which is to say, I don't achieve a placing finish in the final competition, and of course, this is a very likely scenario given that all of the dancers at this level are extremely talented!) I'm so glad that I did this. I'm continuing to challenge and trying to improve myself, and that's an excellent thing. Plus, this business of me being a finalist in a competition is staying on my dance Instagram profile for all time and eternity. :-0

So, this summer will be dedicated to working on my choreography again. Your video submission earns you judges' comments, and they are SO HELPFUL, I can't even begin to tell you. So I'll be working on technique and a few small changes. In the end, all I can do is work to showcase my personal best. I'm going into September with no expectations beyond trying to achieve that.

Honestly, though. I cannot believe I went through with this. :-0 Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad for it! But this is nerve wracking. I hope that I feel really, really alive in late September. 😂

How do you continue to challenge yourself in the things you love? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!