Fall 2013 Grades

No big surprise, I confess. Except for maybe the "W" —I've never withdrawn from a class before. But I am not sad that I did.

Nine credit hours left; three classes; one semester. Yaaaaaaaayyyyy!

Big Things are happening at the North house!

I'm not going to tell you all about it right now—not 'til it's all done. But watch the pictures in the sidebar (Foto Du Jour) and maybe you can guess what's up. :-)

It's super exciting!!

Christmas Wish List, 2013

This year I waited until after Thanksgiving to post my list, so you'll have to shop quickly. ;-)

I have been such a very good girl. I have stayed in school and done all my homework; I worked at a scout camp; I did lots of bake sales; I sent a son on a mission; I even still take care of the rest of my family! I have been very good.

So here's this year's infamous list:

Sheet music for Milonga Surena by Juan Jose Ramos. It is just cool. And it sounds like I could probably play it, too!

Movies! (on DVD or Blu-Ray)—Emma (the most recent BBC production), Babe (the original pig movie—I love that one!),
The Prince of Egypt,  A Song is Born (Danny Kaye), The Ten Commandments (a classic!), Toy Story 2 . . . There's probably more that I'd like. :-)

A Tonner fashion doll. They don't have the NuMood dolls on the Tonner website any more—you have to look on e-bay now. Extra hands, feet, and wigs for her would be cool, too.

A CDN DTTC-S Combo Probe Thermometer Timer & Clock

A really good spatula—or three. We keep breaking them, and I'm down to only one (which, actually, may have been a wedding gift—they just don't make them like they used to!). So an all-metal spatula with a wide, thin blade would be nice. Or three of them.

Shoes. Something cute (but not sandals or high-heels) that I can wear to school when I don't want to wear a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Preferably black. Size 7.

A heat-setting tool. In fact, this tool:  Kandi's Professional Touch Precision Electric Rhinestone Applicator.

A Tutto sewing-machine trolley —like this one.

Duckbill scissors.

A sleeve board. And, to make things more exciting, I found a website that gives instructions and patterns to make your own sleeve board (and other pressing tools)! So you could give me a home-made gift! How awesome would you be?
;-)

Animal Scroll Saw Puzzles (book). This is cool.

Cool Couture. It has some good techniques in it, but it also has instructions for making some good tools.

And New Wood Puzzle Designs, too.

And while I'm talking about books, I'd like all the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder in hard-cover, and all the Oz books by L. Frank Baum in hard cover. Because every library should have those!


Well, the trouble with writing this list over time is that I can keep thinking of more and more and more things. So I'll stop now. Because really the thing I want most is to have a fantastic holiday with my family. And I always get that! :-)

Wow.

I have gradually been coming to a realization—a real "Aha!" about myself.

This semester I've been working on my collection for the fashion show in April. I drew my designs, gave them a lot of thought—even some mathematical processing—and started drafting patterns for them. I've made several mock-ups of these dresses and gotten the patterns and fit practically perfect. And in the last couple of weeks I had this "Wow" moment:

I am really good at this!

I know, you are all laughing at me now. Or, more likely, rolling your eyes. But you just don't get it.

I've always known that I'm good enough to do the projects my teachers assign me and get an A in the class, and I know that my non-sewing friends think I'm amazing. But I am seeing it. I drew these designs. I figured out how to take them from 2-D to
3-D. I drafted the patterns. I sewed the mock-ups. I chose the fabrics. I did it—and I am doing it. And as these projects are coming together, I am finally realizing that I am good at this. Really. And I'm kind of wowed out about it.

Now as I work on drafting a new pattern, my mind skips forward. I could do this for a business—from home—just like I wanted to when I started the program. I really could. Wow again.

Just, Wow.

My Driving Pet Peeve

I've heard lots of people complain about Utah drivers. Apparently we are the worst in the United States, in North America, and probably in the entire world! Maybe. I don't know, since I've lived in Utah most of my life (although I saw some really bad driving in Tennessee when we were there). And then these Anti-Utah-Drivers (who, by the way, mostly live in Utah themselves) will cite things like people running red lights—which, I will say, have increased in horrific numbers over the past five years or so. It is ridiculous!

I don't like people to run red lights. It is stupid and it is scary, but, to be truthful, I've come to expect really stupid things to happen at major intersections—like people running red lights, or turning into the wrong lanes, etc.—so I watch out for that. Those things are not my big pet peeve.

Yesterday as I arrived at the train station I heard a young lady (I use the term "lady" loosely, after what I heard of her language) on her cell phone complaining. She was upset because, I'm assuming, the woman who drove her to the train station made her late for her train. I feel her pain! I hate that. Here's what I heard her say (expletives deleted): "I know it's against the rules, but everyone does it . . ."  I heard a tiny bit more—just enough to know that she was talking about My Driving Pet Peeve. Something I hate even more than just barely missing my train.

Now I know you are dying to know what it is that I hate so much, so here it is: What I really hate is when people use the left turn lane as their personal driveway and holding lane. And everyone does this—even the police, who should know better. (Well everyone except for, possibly, the train-girl's driver.)

I will explain my frustration in pictures:

Let's say I want to turn from here . . .

(You can tell this is my van because of the rust on top.)

to here.

I can make this maneuver without stopping any traffic that may be behind me because of this little convenience called the LEFT TURN LANE:

I move into the left turn lane, and Ta-da! Everyone gets to go!

Now let's say there's another guy on a side-street who also wants to turn left.

Well, that's OK. All is clear and he can turn left onto the road. But what if there's lots of traffic?

Uh-oh. Not so simple. He may have to wait a bit.

But he doesn't want to wait. He is in a big, giant hurry. So, instead of waiting, as soon as the traffic nearest him clears up a little he makes his turn into the LEFT TURN LANE, where he will wait for the traffic in his lane to clear up.

But what if this happens?

He is in the left turn lane, exactly where I need to be so I can turn left. (That's why it's called the "LEFT TURN LANE.")

Well, I can slow way down and hope I can get around him (if he is smart—or decent—enough to pull forward and get out of my way, or I may even have to come to a stop. Then this is what happens:

Oh dear! I am in the way now; in fact, I am stopping traffic.

Let's say he wants to turn from here . . .

to here:

Well that won't work!

He has nowhere to go, and he's in a hurry, so he does this:

I know my big, noisy van is hard to miss, but I can't see what he sees, and I can't read his mind. Did he really see me, or is he going to cut me off or crash into me?

Now let's return to the first left-turner. 

He still has to wait; that should be OK. But what if he doesn't want to wait, and what if, for some reason, I don't see him coming?

BAM!!

This is really, really bad news.

I will say that sometimes you may really need to turn out into the left turn lane, instead of directly into the lane you are heading for. Once in a while I may misjudge how fast the traffic is coming when I make my turn, or I think a car is in the far lane, but really it is in the lane I'm headed for. Since I've already pulled out  to make the turn, I turn into the left turn lane and feel really stupid about it. But those are pretty rare occasions. They can't possibly lead to the dozens of times I see people parked in the left turn lane every day.

When I took driver's ed., I was taught that the only time you should get into the left turn lane is when you want to turn left. At least I thought  that's what I learned. But maybe my memory is faulty, so I had Lindsey ask her teacher when she took driver's ed. last year. He told her, "You are not supposed to do it, but everyone does, and you probably won't get a ticket for it." Wonderful.

There are other options—like waiting for the traffic to clear. There are even other options if our left-turner doesn't want to wait for the traffic to clear. For example, he could try this . . .

 . . . followed by this:

He could take another path that will lead him to an intersection with a traffic light (but watch out for the red-light-runners); he could drive around the block, he could just give up, go back home and take a nap . . .

The main thing is that he just plain, old, should not use the LEFT TURN LANE as a holding lane for him to wait in while the traffic clears up. It is annoying, it could be dangerous, and it is illegal.

But . . . Utah drivers. What do you expect?

Breaking the Silence

I know I have been strangely silent for a while. It's because I have been super busy. Super busy!

In my intimate apparel class so far I have made a pair of granny panties:

Yep, tummy-hugging, granny panties and, yes, these are the ones I made. Pretty great, huh?

a pair of "boy shorts" with a matching camisole:

There's money in underwear! You might pay $30 for a matching set like this (more if it's custom-fit, which it is), but it only cost about $7 to $10 to make.

and a swimsuit:

This is a shapely suit—I had to add foam cups in its construction. ;-)

Now I am making a bra. I'm pretty excited about the bra, actually. If I can make one that fits right and looks good you can bet I will never go bra-shopping again. Never!

But I spend most of my time working on Collections. I finally did sketch out my ten designs—in fact, I came up with twelve! But I have my ten favorites and I've been working madly on them. Every day that I'm home I spend three to five hours drafting patterns. I'm making them to fit a size eight dress form which translates to a size six person, and which is a little nerve-wracking because I'll need them to fit unseen, unknown models whose measurements supposedly are the same as the dress forms (except they are lots taller). Hopefully the alterations will be few.

Anyway I draw the patterns all week long, cut them from muslin, take them to school on Friday and try them on the dress forms. Then I pin in any alterations the patterns might need, go home and revise those patterns over the week, make more patterns, cut them from muslin, take them to school on Friday...

So far I have one complete pattern, one almost finished, and six more that need to be altered and finished. I'm trying to get them all drafted and fitted before the Christmas break because I don't have a dress form to work with. I think I'll make it, but I am working madly. Then, once the patterns are all finished, I can start sewing in my fashion fabrics. I think I have some awesome designs, and I'm excited to see them come to life.

Once I have my dresses—or at least once the patterns are all made—I'll start drawing some good illustrations. :-) But I still don't know if I'll post them before the fashion show. What do you think?

It's official . . . Jason's a missionary now!

One of my very best friends has moved away and will be gone for two years.  Here are the events leading up to Jason's mission:

Open house for Jason's farewell.  Sunday, October 29, 2013

Brad, Bruce, Me and Becky

Scerinda tells us a story.

What's with all the salads?

Monday night family home evening at Grandma's house.

clockwise from left:  Kaylie's back, Grandma Johnson, Maloa, Rick, Melanie, Lita (on floor),  Fia, Paulo (behind Michael) and Michael.  And my feet and Bruce's feet.

the returned missionary and the two prospective missionaries

Paulo, Lita, and Jason

clockwise from left:  Kaylie (lying on floor), Paul holding Ana, Fia, Grandpa Johnson, Grandma Johnson, Maloa and Ammon

Set apart at the Stake Center with Elder Richardson.

Elder Richardson and Elder North, in complementary colors. :-)

On Tuesday morning, the day before Jason entered the MTC, our van broke down (we really don't know what's wrong with it).  We had planned to take the entire family to Provo to drop him off and say goodbye there, but we had to borrow my mom's car and we wouldn't all fit in it so only Bruce and Jason and I would drive down. We let the kids stay home from school anyway and say goodbye that morning. If I was really quick with the camera I would have gotten pictures of each of them giving Jason a hug and saying goodbye. There were some really touching moments; moments that make a mom happy and proud of her children. Instead we just got a couple of silly group photos of the kids.

Then we packed up the van . . .

Kaylie and Jessica come out for one last hug.

. . . and we went down to Provo.  Bruce and I took Jason out to lunch, then we headed toward the MTC.  We were a little early, so we parked in a lot between the MTC and the Provo Temple to take some pictures.  There were at least fifty other missionary families doing the same thing.  In fact, we saw Lita and her family there! (Lita's report time was fifteen minutes earlier than Jason's.)

Paul, taking pictures of his family

Fia, with baby Ana (and Ammon to her right)

Bruce and Jason in front of the Provo Temple

After the photos we drove across the street to the MTC to drop Jason off.  A missionary was waiting to help him with his bags, we got our last hugs, and he walked away from us.

last hugs for Dad

last hugs for Mom

There he goes.

And that's it. Jason is officially a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I cried as we drove away, but I was doing OK until we got home and saw that someone had given us a heart attack:

When the kids set the table for dinner that night it took me a second to recall that we didn't need ten dishes on the table any more. When it was time to call the kids up I didn't need to call for Michael and Jason—just Michael now. Nobody is whistling or singing or snapping their fingers. And even now I can hardly look at these pictures without crying. It is bitter-sweet.  But mostly sweet, really. I have wanted Jason to go on a mission, and he has always wanted to go, and I am glad he's doing it. I am so proud of him! I will get over this initial melancholy, and he will email me, and I will be excited to hear what he's doing. Yes, it is mostly sweet.

Elder Jason Daniel North
I am so proud of him.