The Edge of Reason

Dorm Room Drama

Sad news from Alyssa: one of her roommates, Stephanie, attempted to commit suicide last Wednesday evening. She was taken away from the dorm by an ambulance while Alyssa was attending her night class. Alyssa knew that Steph was "threatening" to do something bad, but what she did not know was that when Stephanie made the threat she had already taken 70+ ibuprofen. Steph's mom arrived from Ohio at midnight on Wednesday while Steph was still in the hospital. I can't begin to imagine how terrifying that mother's drive must have been.

And now there is a lot of bad drama going on amongst the other roommates - they are mad at Alyssa for not leaving her night class and for not skipping sorority activities during all the excitement - and after telling Alyssa that she was heartless and that she needed "therapy", those two girls left campus to stay at Halie's house for the weekend, leaving Alyssa alone in the dorm for three days. Alyssa is so angry with them for making such a stink about "her" when what they should be concerned about is Stephanie's well-being.

As it stands, Stephanie was in the hospital for 3 days under psych observation. The school wanted her to be moved to a psych clinic for at least another week, but when she was released from the hospital, her mom took her home to Ohio. It doesn't sound like she will be allowed to return to the dorms, but whether she is kicked out of school is still up for debate. The RA has been in meetings with the faculty to discuss the options, and Steph's family is scheduled to meet with the Dean tomorrow. The school requested that Alyssa attend a mandatory counselling session this week to give her "official" report as to what happened on Wednesday. She also has to meet with the Dean to discuss the options and to share her thoughts on what happened. Needless to say, my daughter is not happy about being put in this situation.

All in all, a HUGE mess. Alyssa is plugging along with her classes as best as she can considering the circumstances, but she is pretty shook up. Sidenote: this is the same roommate who had to be transported by an ambulance last semester due to binge drinking and alcohol poisoning... so she was already on probation, which [I hope] will factor in to the decision of her being allowed to stay in school. I swear to all that is holy - Alyssa is a magnet to weird friends. She is always getting put in these odd situations. I almost wish she'd find a boyfriend so that she would not get so involved in the girl drama. Okay... not really... I don't want her to find a boyfriend... not yet, anyway.

In addition to being worried about Stephanie (whom I've met on four occasions), I feel terribly for my daughter. She is just beside herself with anxiety and frustration. And those ding-dongs who she lives with think that Steph will be back in school and living in the dorm by Wednesday. What the heck? They actually think the university will allow Stephanie to return after two major incidents? Give me a break. These girls are in la-la land.  However, in the event that the university does allow Stephanie to move back into the dorm room, Alyssa has requested a room change. The RA told her that the request will be moved to the top of the priority list if the situation deems it necessary. The problem with this scenario is that Alyssa really doesn't want to move. She is settled into the room she is currently living in, and although she is fighting with the other roommates, she is comfortable with the living arrangements.

 

On the bright side - Alyssa was officially initiated into the Chi Omega Sorority on Friday, and after three days of non-stop events, she is exhausted but thrilled. The weekend began Friday morning at 6:00 with a sunrise ceremony and from there it was full speed ahead with three days of initiation ceremonies and activities.  Apparently she received her "letters" on Friday morning - I guess those are like high school varsity letters (?). Whatever they were, they made her happy. She asked me to think about how to incorporate them into a quilt - and as we all know, I am all over that idea. I've already begun sketching out ideas for her to consider.

As I was trying to help Alyssa handle this crisis (via text messages and phone calls), I was once again reminded why being a teenager is so very difficult. These kids have pressure from all sides. I told Alyssa that this experience will make her stronger and will build character... and with those words, I thought I sounded like my mother! That is what I've become... my mother. Thankfully, my mom is a saint and if I come even a tiny bit close to offering the love and support to my children that she has offered me - I will have done my job.

Girl drama. I hate it... I hated it when Alyssa was living at home, and I hate it even more now - because the truth of the matter is that the older the girls are, the bigger the drama becomes.

Well, it's about time!

First things first: I invite you to put on your dancing shoes and join me in a celebration because I've been happy dancing for an entire week, and the party is still not over.

Drum roll please...

... John has returned to school! I can't tell you how thrilled I am. He needed to go back to school. And in spite of the fact that he is not physically as strong as we would like - emotionally, school is the best place for him right now. His world was becoming too small, and he deserves to experience so much more than what I am able to provide within the confines of this home; he needs to be in a classroom instead of with a tutor; he needs to be with his peers; and most of all - he and I need a break from the constant companionship that had become nearly oppressive.

So... we are celebrating! This is such great news, considering that in the past eight months John has only attended four weeks of school. That is a long time to be out of the classroom. It is also a long time for a mother to entertain and care for an almost 17 year old child. Additionally, it is a long time to give up my privacy as I hosted nurses and tutors all day-every day. And, since I'm being honest, I will admit that it is also a very long time to share my space and give up my freedom. Is that selfish of me? Probably. But at least I'm honest. *sigh*

The next "It's about time" item on the agenda: I mentioned in my last post that my husband gave me a wonderful new laptop for Christmas. Come to find out, the Vista program on the laptop was not compatible with the version of Photoshop Elements I was running. What a hassle that turned out to be - and frustrating? Oh my gosh! I was ready to pull my hair out. When we finally realized it was a compatibility issue, we were able to address the problem, which meant installing the new 7.0 trial version of PSE. More happy dancing in my house! I'd heard that 7.0 runs slow... it doesn't! I'd heard that there was a high learning curve for 7.0... there's not! I am in love with this program. It has solved all sorts of issues I've had in the past with the older version of Elements. And slick? Yeah, it's slick. The picture shows my pretty new desktop with the new pse icon (how great is that wallpaper background?). I took a screen shot of my computer screen just to play with the program - that's how happy it makes me. I will be purchasing the 7.0 upgrade before the 30 day trial is done. In my opinion, it is worth its weight in gold.

I have to offer a million thanks to my husband for spending entire days of his time in an attempt to get me up and running at full speed. His ability to find solutions to the problems we've encountered with switching from Explorer to Vista have astounded me. I am so thankful for his calm approach and neverending patience with my [sometimes outrageous] requests and demands. And in case anyone was wondering - I have learned to love Vista! It is way cool.

In celebration of the upgrade changes recently made - I'm going to share a great find with you. For those who are into actions when editing their photos, look what I stumbled across:

 

Here's the hyper-link to the site: CoffeeShop free downloads. I've played with a few of the actions, and they are fabulous. And free... how can you argue with that? These action programs are compatible with both Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS - bonus!

Moving on to another "It's about time" subject... we finally got a little bit of snow.

 

It's about time! Last week the temps were in the single digits. Brrrr. It was so dang cold outside - it even hurt to breathe. And although I despise snow with every fiber of my being, I still feel like snow is part of the winter months, and if the temps are going to be frigid, I wanna see the white stuff. We only saw a few flakes last week - I guess it was too cold to snow. But today we saw the real thing. Snow, snow, snow. Not enough to really do anything with (like mess up the traffic or make a snowman), but just enough to satisfy my desire to watch it fall from the sky. PERFECT!

In other news, tomorrow is the inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama. Living in the region where this will occur is interesting, to say the least. I won't be attending any of the events because 1) I don't like crowds, 2) porta-pottys are gross, 3) it's too cold to endure watching something outside with thousands of strangers, 4) traffic will be a nightmare, 5) security issues (one of my personal phobias), and 6) this is all we have heard about on our local news for a full month - and I've OD'd on the inauguration, the cost, the attendance, the schedule of events, the menu, the attire, the road closings, the school closings (neither of my kids have school on Tuesday due to traffic and security concerns - yep, they even canceled the classes at Alyssa's university), etc., etc., etc. Instead of driving 16 miles to attend the inauguration, I'll be sitting in the warm comfort of my home watching it on the television. I'm looking forward to the changes that have been promised. But more than that, I am anxiously awaiting putting the inauguration behind us and moving ahead.

And finally - about the subject of an Etsy Shop: it's in the works. And because I'm anal about starting something new, I have been doing my research and have decided to build a small inventory before I open the store. I still don't have a name (all suggestions welcome), and I still have not decided on exactly what to put in the shop (again, suggestions are welcome). The first thing necessary was figuring out why my PSE program wasn't working since I can't open a store without being able to take pictures of the items that will be available. Now that I have solved that problem, I am ready to move forward with production. I'm hoping for a late February or early March opening - a lot will depend on whether I can keep John in school, thus freeing up my time for creativity (more happy dancing just thinking about all the things I want to make).

"It's about time". That's where my mind is at today. I'm ready for change - change in my life and change for our country. In the meantime, I will just keep happy dancing because I find it to be such a great way to celebrate the changes that are ahead.

Pink Hearts & Doggy Scarves

2009 started out with a very loud bang - and it is not the kind of bang I was hoping would ring in the new year. Therefore, in answer to the question, "where have you been?" I will just say this about that: parenting a wayward, rebellious, angry teenage son is nothing to blog about - I am emotionally worn out, and I have reached the end of my rope. But if I were to blog about the experience, words such as illegal, police, temptations, peer pressure, and trouble would surely be included. Having said that, I am just going to skip right over all other recent developments. (No one will ever accuse me of lacking the ability to tune out my reality!)

And so with the beginning of a new year, and a burning desire to maintain my sanity through all the craziness that surrounds me, I once again turned to the sewing machine - but before doing so, I loudly proclaimed to my family that I was going to my happy place, and may the good Lord help anyone who dared question my motives. Needless to say, they left me alone.

The first thing I did was an attempt to remind myself that love abounds even when disappointments occur. With that thought in mind, I went to the fabric store and purchased yards and yards of pink heart fabric because 1) I love pink, and 2) Valentine's Day is the next holiday on the calendar. After looking at the fabric for a few days, I came up with a pattern and design late one night when I was trying not to wallow in parenting hell. This Valentine table setting is nothing fancy, but it makes me happy. I made the circles using various sizes of kitchen drinking glasses. I made the strips using a rotary cutter and quilting ruler. The place mats were made by tracing something else I had sewn last summer. All applique work was sewn with my Baby Lock machine using the applique stitch and contrasting thread. Easy, breezy, pink heart fun!

Here is what I ended up with to remind myself that love is all around:

After completing the pink heart project, I still had oodles of fabric left over, and so I sketched out a pattern similar to something I had seen last fall at a craft fair. I've been wanting to make one of these circle thingies for ages, but could never figure out how to do so. It took me four attempts to get the measurements right, and I ended up throwing the first three prototypes away. I finally recruited my husband to help me out and together we were able to calculate the proper cutting lines and exact dimensions. Without his calm approach and exceptional patience, I doubt I would have ever been able to complete this design. As it is, I've now made two sets and have the entire project down to a single day. I'm thinking about opening an Etsy Shop, and so this was a test project. I'm still undecided about the Etsy Shop, but in the meantime, I'm having fun thinking about it and working on possible inventory.

And finally, a just because story because this provided a laugh out loud moment when I needed it most:

The way my mom, Jenny, Debbie and I email each other is all together - so what one person writes, everyone reads (although I have to say that I think Jenny reads much more than she writes!). On Christmas day, Debbie sent an email wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and commented on the Christmas scarf that her dog, Sophie, was wearing. Apparently, Jenny had made the scarf for Sophie as a little doggy gift. Later that day, Jenny responded to the email saying that her dog, Chloe, had a Christmas scarf on as well. Harrumph. No scarves here in Virginia! I was feeling left out.

The following week, I had to sew up some new diaper wraps for my poor little pitiful dog who is still in a wheelchair due to paralysis. When I was done with the dreaded project (I really hate sewing doggy diaper wraps), my husband commented that Misty was the best dressed dog in the whole wide world. I told him that she was NOT the best dressed dog because she did not warrant an Aunt Jenny Christmas scarf. I also passed the comment along to my sister via the family email route, making sure she knew that I noticed the scarf favoritism.

Later that week, Jeff went out to the mailbox and when he came inside, he was chuckling to himself. He then waved a letter in front of me and said, "Misty got mail." I grabbed the envelope and tore it open to discover a lovely new Aunt Jenny scarf made especially for Misty. Oh happy day! Doggy mail. What fun! If I open an Etsy Shop, dog scarves will definitely be included in the inventory. These scarves are so stinkin' cute!

That my sister would make Misty a scarf and send it to my dog in the mail made me laugh until I cried. The scarf arrived on a day when John and I had been going at each other like never before, and I was to the point of throwing in my parenting towel and going on a very long vacation to Never-Neverland. I so greatly appreciate the fact that Jenny saw humor in my utter disgust that Misty was overlooked at Christmas time. That she would spend her day off making a doggy scarf meant more to me than anything else at that moment in time, and it reminded me that no matter how far away she lives, my sister is there just when I need her most. Three cheers for Jenny - she made me laugh! I love you, sis.

Oh... good news: I have a new laptop. It's a Sony Vaio that is sangria red and it is absolutely wonderful. When I opened this gift from my husband on Christmas Day, I was utterly speechless (I thought I was getting a new coffee maker). It's taken me a while to figure out how to transfer programs and such, but I think I have finally figured out how to work with the pictures using Vista, which was the most important thing to learn, second only to trying to remember my user names and passwords for various personal files and websites. If things on the blog look wonky, the fault is solely my own due to inexperience with the laptop and Adobe.

A very belated Happy New Year to all. My hope is that it only gets better, because if it gets any worse, a trip to Never-Neverland just still might happen.