Sewing, Swimming, and School

We're winding up our summer this week. 

I meet this time of year always with a bi-polar personality. 

Half of me is eager to get back into a more structured day. Something about the urgency & business of the school year helps me to be more organized, more methodical & thereby more productive. 

But the other half of me resists this structure & wants to further enjoy these free-floating days.

And this year is even "more" as I send my younger daughter, now the youngest here, off to public high school on Monday. After being so wrapped up in my kids' schedules & homeschooling them, I'll find myself with time on my hands.

How many days & hours did I fantasize about "me time" back when they were all younger? And now the prospect of me time sounds, well... kinda lonely. But I'm very good at keeping busy! I have three client quilts to work on this upcoming week, amongst other various projects lined up that have been in my mind but on the back burner until I had more time. 

Then there are personal, career-oriented goals I haven't seriously thought about in years. 

And now I am.

In between school shopping & trying to get in last-summer swims, I've gotten a little sewing done as well.

Made a couple checkbook covers:

This sunflower checkbook cover matches the sunflower purse I just made!

And later I wanted to play with a new eyelet punch tool, so I made this very simple bookmark:

Has anybody used one of these? I ask because the front of the eyelet retained it's red color, but you can see the back of this eyelet rubbed off in the stamping process & has been left silver instead. I'm not sure if I squished it like a beast & thereby rubbed off the color in my quest to MAKE IT STAY?? Or if I have cheap eyelets? Or if this is just the way it is???

It's Friday. We're planning to take a bike ride & enjoy this weather today. 

Saturday through Sunday we'll have hurricane Irene come past & so we'll start honing in on the weather report to see how bad our chances are of getting more of the heavy rain which would cause the Susquehanna River to flood our town... my home. 

And Monday my daughter will start high school... on her 15th birthday. She's excited to see what high school is like but wishes she were able to sleep in on her birthday!