Weekend Progress Report # 6

The Focus Project: TW's Autumn Faerie: No photo - I haven't managed to stitch on this at all this past week since I have been working longer than usual hours in the parish. We had our first Father-Daughter Dance last Friday Night, wrapped up all the progress reports for Grade 1-6 for the first semester and all the 2nd quarter progress reports for the 7th grade this week and did the last of the Confirmation interviews this Saturday for the 8th graders. And in addition to that, we finalized all the paperwork on the biggest fund-raiser of our program, our Feb-May Calendar Raffle, and started drawing and notifying winners. Even with all the extra hours I worked, I am still behind in my correspondence, have some scheduling for the 7th grade Weekend Workshop to complete as well as a February Family Catechesis event to plan and staff. My secretary's hours have been cut to 18 from 25 as a budget measure, yet the workload increases as the Religious Education Program absorbs all the fund-raising chores of the defunct parish school [as well as some of the traditional community-building events run by the school ... as noted in the last post] as well as taking on a Mass Attendance project for the 2nd and 8th grade levels. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I have warned the pastor that I am rapidly approaching burn-out and that if he wants me to return in Sept. for my 17th year as CRE, I need more help. My days are becoming consumed with tasks not in my official job description of religious education and formation for the children and families of the parish. I am an educator, not an accountant, by training and temperament ... and I am drowning in paperwork. I come home and collapse. I am in no shape to tackle something as complex as a TW piece.

Thanksgiving Ornament - Pilgrim Boy and Girl from BH&G 1001 Cross-stitch Motifs: the stitching is finished but I haven't gotten to the sewing finish which I plan to do as a flat ornament backed with padded cardboard and trimmed with handmade braid. Even though the backstitched mouths on these characters are absolutely straight, they both look rather glum. I figure once I pop the piece from the hoop and put it through a very gentle hand washing and pressing, they should cheer up considerably. Tension hoops always tend to pull fabric in crazy directions.

Heartstrings Santa with Noah's Ark: This has been my travel project and I have worked on it at lunch time and during my one waiting room stint this week, at the car dealership [the second such visit in four days]. So I have to be content with some noticeable progress on this piece, even though I had hoped to have it finished by now. All that's left is a bit of the green on the cuffs, the roof & windows of the ark, Santa's face and beard and the specialty stitches [very few of them]. Since we are expecting snow Tuesday and Wednesday, I may have more stitching time if I have to cancel classes. So there's hope I'll catch up with my self-imposed schedule.

But, overall, it seems unlikely that I'll be able to meet all of my monthly or annual goals if this rather slow pace continues. The Autumn Faerie was supposed to have been done in January and I was supposed to have been able to tackle two more BAPs this year: the TW Woodland Angel Stocking for my grandson and the TW Winter Faerie for my daughter. I think I need to admit that the Winter Faerie probably won't happen this year. As to monthly goals for February, I haven't gotten to the Brightneedle Ghosts & Ghoulies Etui or the Papillion Creations Peacock Square, nor have I selected and kitted a chart for the February Bride's Tree SAL motif, a heart. There are two bright spots in all this: I am really treasuring every moment I manage to spend stitching and I have been blogging a little more regularly [one of my annual goals].