VoxBlog

Job in Limbo...

by Mary Catherine Moody

Remember this?  That's right January of last year I got a job at a high school as a drop out prevention specialist/guidance counselor/student advocate.  Which is a lot of job title for $16/hr.  It's incredibly rewarding work and I could see it being very difficult for the wrong person, your performance is based on your efficacy.  While it was not my intended field of work It's a good job and I'm good at it.  What's the problem?  Technicalities.

After a certain point in the school year the district no longer offers permanent positions.  Everyone hired after Jan. 1st is hired on a temporary contract.  Meaning that they have to re-post the job after your contract is up even if they know they want you back.  So you are left flapping in the wind waiting for an interview and hoping to God someone with more seniority doesn't swoop down and snatch it from you.  Panic stricken limbo.  Which is where I have been all summer up until Friday the 13th of August.  My interview is Wednesday the 18th at 8:30am.  The first day of school is Monday the 30th of August.  I'm placing bets on how long it will take after the interview for them to get back to me.

Meanwhile I want to draw more and get back to building collections and draping. 

*wow I just got goosebumps thinking about how good it would feel to be doing that again*

Steps toward an unknown future...

So as most of you don't know, my sweetheart was accepted in to the masters program at Eastern Washington University (EWU), where he will be learning to Teach English as a Second Language (TESL).  He was also accepted into the Graduate Student Assistanceship (GSA) program which means a huge chunk of his tuition is paid for and they give him a living stipend in exchange for teaching English 101 and 201 there at the university.  All of which is AMAZING, and I am very proud of him!  However selfish me can only think, "Wow he is going to move 130 miles away from me and get to do fun stuff and be successful."  I hate myself for thinking those things and for even feeling a twinge of jealousy towards my partner, but it's like I can't help myself.  "It's my nature." said the Scorpio.

I thought I would feel better about being stuck in the Tri-cities if he was here with me.  But he is just as miserable as I am and we are just making each other miserable because we feel so stunted here.  So, I'm glad he's getting out, but I'm feeling a little left behind which as usual brings up my insecurities about us not being either engaged or married.  And to think, I thought I was over that!

Anywho, this weekend Matt and I drove up to Cheney, WA where EWU is located to do some apartment hunting.  After doing some homework and getting recommendations from friends, Matt had one place in mind that he thought would be ideal.  The place is on the north end of Cheney in the newest part of town, all the buildings are well built and less than 7 years old, also it's right by a shopping center that had a Safeway a gym and a bank.  The bus to school would pick him up in front of the complex.  All very clean and convenient.  So he applied for a 2 bedroom and put down a holding deposit.   Hopefully we will have some good news by next week on whether he got it or not.  So here we are, taking small steps toward an unknown future.

Wow, what an unproductive summer!

For someone who does as little as I seem to have done, I should be blogging more.  I didn't accomplish any of the things I had planned to do and now I feel even more confused and discouraged about my future. 

Let's look beside the fact that I have no idea what I should be doing and what is right for me, to that I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING.  I know I'm not working hard enough, but I just can't seem to be able to motivate myself into doing anything that doesn't seem like a step forward.  But by doing that I'm doing nothing, waiting for this opportunity that will never present itself to me while I'm living here in the middle of Eastern Washington.

"So why don't you move to LA or something?"

While moving would solve a lot of my problems at the same time it also seems like a very risky venture when I can't even motivate my self to do what I love to do most when I have 3 months of free time.  Here is the rest of the list.
-I have $0 in savings.
-I don't have my own car.
-I have 130K in school debt.
-Matt can't come with me for at least 2 years.
-I don't know anyone there, I would have no support system and no safety net (ie. school and student loans were my safety net when I moved to Oakland)

Now I remember why I don't blog as much anymore, because it always turns into "I can't-fest".  Sorry guys.

Long Hiatus--Denim Tote--Becoming A Profesional

Sorry for not posting in a few months, working a full time job is very demanding and It's made me very stingy with my free time.  The good news is I'm off for the summer and intend on updating you with the crafting goals I wish to accomplish.

So here is my first accomplishment of the summer.  As usual my most creative moments come when I am tasked with sewing I'd rather not be doing AKA seamstress work.  This time it was making pants into capri length pants as to extend their life.  As much as I'm all about sustainability in fashion, this task is entirely uncreative, but the upside is I'm left with almost a quarter of a yard of material to play with and lots of inspiration to not do the task at hand.  Bad news, I will be taking more of these kinds of jobs because frankly, I need the money, my car died a month ago and I need a new one.  Good news, more procrastination inspired craft projects!

Hopefully my summer won't be all seamstress drudgery.  I have some fairly serious goals as far as furthering my self professionally, and by serious I don't mean big.  Right now I'm working on baby steps, little things I can do to legitimize myself as a biz lady.  My first step will be to get a business license.  This gets me tax write offs, entrance into trade shows and the ability to buy fabrics and trims at wholesale prices through some of my favorite vendors (ie Robert Kaufman, Amy Butler...etc).  I'm also trying to decide what kind of products I would want to offer, whether it's clothes accessories, household stuff or whatever, I need to decide and start pumping it out so I can start selling it.  Next is the trouble of where to sell it.  If I hear one more person say, "You can sell it on Etsy!"  I will choke them with vintage lace and they will not have deserved such a kind death.   There is a ton of absolute shit on Etsy and there are also plenty of gems, over priced gems but, gems none the less.  Becoming one of those gems is not easy, I'm still looking for a guide on how to get "noticed" on Etsy, how to get more than 13 page views, how to get a single sale!!  Etsy rant over, but finding a good place to sell my things I haven't dreamed up or made yet is a bridge I will cross when I get to it.

More later!

your opinion please!

I'm having trouble deciding on which frames I like best... it's like I get to take you all shopping with me!  Also it's so hard to tell in these terrible pictures with bad lighting like in #3 & #4 where my eyebrows get magically erased. 

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So this is what I think about them...


#1 isn't the right shape (too round, makes me look fatter) but I loved the color and that they're Karl Lagerfeld.

#2 was a good shape but the wrong color, (red white and blue tortoise- gag!) they are also nearly identical to my old glasses.  I'm craving something new!

#3 are chic but safe and blah like everyone has those frames.

#4 are cute and quirky and have a lot of personality but I just wondered if they were too quirky for the tri-cities and bordering on too masculine.

it's really between #3 & #4. I like them equally for opposite reasons....argh!

So #3 or #4???






And these are my current glasses that I've had for 6 years, which have a broken arm that I repaired with superglue. 

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Some how shopping for new glasses has triggered a mini identity crisis.  It's not that I don't know who I am it's that I can't be who I want to be because of some limitation which through my grand powers of deduction and infallible logic is usually myself.

Sweet haul, Avon style!

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Something drew me into the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store on my way home today.  It was literally like a magnetic force.  Then I discovered why I was supposed to be there at that exact time.  There near the front of the store was more than 200 old avon perfume/lotion/bath oil bottles.  They are all kitschy and wonderful, and they were all $.69 a piece, and there were multiples.  I should see which ones are the most expensive/ collectible and try to make some money on e-bay.  

I asked the lady at the counter where they got all of these avon bottles and she told me that someone had died and their kids were uninterested in keeping any of the collection (when the store first recieved them there were over 1000 pieces).  That kind of struck a chord with me as a collector of things most people don't care about.  I'm sure whoever this collection belonged to, they are rolling in their grave at liquidation of their preciouses (in the golem voice).  Then again they're dead, they may not care!

Crafting and Thrifting, But Mostly Working.

That's about all I've been up to. 

Some friends of mine have created a Tuesday night craft group that I have been attending for almost two months now.  The women in this group are all either teachers or social workers of some kind.  We all get along quite well and always have a really good time.  Here is one of the cooling things I have made.  It's a bag that came from an online patter with such great instructions that I taught it to two of my other craftmates as I made mine.

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And of course I've done some thrifting too.  Not a ton but just enough to get my fix.

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I got the job!

It's official, I have accepted the position.  i'm excited to start, and it should be soon!  2010 has been pretty shiny so far, i'm liking it!

the Craftermath

Christmas was wonderful, my parents adored the quilt, my cousin loved her dolly sized quilt (which I failed to photograph), and everyone loved my hand stamped gift tags and cloth gift bags.  I got some great new vintage tins and glassware from my sister.  so I'm having fun researching and displaying them. Got the sandwich/grill/ waffle maker from my parents, i'm super excited to try that out.

Now it's time to clean up the studio and move on to my next projects.  The amount of blue fuzz that is all over my studio is amazing, it's like it snowed.  my poor machine needs a good cleaning and oiling, a new needle, and some general TLC.  My JANOME is such a work horse, it trucked through 1000 seams on this quilt without complaint.  I wish I could take it out for a drink or something to show my appreciation... lol.

New Year's Resolution #1: Create more, complain less.

Photo Finish!

I finished it just in time!  This is my first quilt, done without a pattern.  I'm very pleased with the results!!  I hope everyone is having a good holiday! 

much love,
Amy

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