And Then There Was the Science Fair

I have been a sewing machine! I completed 4 additional dresses for my Etsy shop. I made a baby romper for a friend. I darned socks, replaced buttons and even patched holes on pants that were sitting on my sewing table for so long, my son can no longer even wear the pants. I set aside patterns and fabric for the next 5 projects in line. I started a pretty terrible looking pair of pants for myself. But who cares that they are terrible, I am SEWING! And it feels great. I have been trying to devote just one hour a day to some project in my little sewing cave. I cue up the latest show I'm watching on Amazon Prime and I shut the door and all is right with the world. Currently, I'm all caught up on The Good Wife so I'm attempting to get into Extant, the futuristic series with the very dreamy Goran Visnjic and the so gorgeous she makes the world suicidal Halle Berry. The jury is still out on whether it is decent sew-along background entertainment. But, I digress. It had been a tremendous two weeks of sewing. And, a not so bad week in dear old Burlingame. I continued to boot camp. I found a walking buddy for the weekend mornings and we have a friendly step competition with our Fitbits going. I had coffee with new friends and dinner plans with another new acquaintance. A very kind person commented that I might try looking "forward" and I think creating social engagements is a part of that. We've also had some more adventures in the city, like visiting the iconic Coit Tower and gasping at the beautiful views of the city. The hand stamp was our admission. Not my admission yet, but cute.

And then it all came to a screeching halt. My son's science fair project was due this week. Now what would that have to do with ME, you might ask? He is only six, so HIS project is really MY project. What I thought might be a fun activity quickly became a bit of a nightmare. I thought we were right on track, each day devoting just 15 minutes or so to doing something. Two weeks ago was Ski Week - another ridiculous invention that explains why California schools bite - and even though we didn't have school, or ski, for that matter, we accomplished NOTHING with regard to our lovely science project. My son was not worried at all. Happy as a lark. Skipping from here to there. I was totally freaking out. If I wanted to do it myself, I could get it done in a few hours.....but it is HIS project. I made him write out his sentences and layout the design and even type. Oh - the typing. It takes about 20 minutes for him to type one sentence. He loves it. He smiles after each letter lands on the screen. I fell asleep watching him.

The project is done and we have the medal of participation to prove it. My son Ben is one of the few people in the world who truly appreciates my OCD nature. It was his idea to put the stripes of color, and when I suggested that he use a ruler, he was ecstatic. A ruler! Cool! He had the ice cream cone idea, so I made a template for him, and he spent an hour cutting them out and adding drips of ice cream. It was evident that I had a heavy hand in making sure the final product was legible and straight, and I think folks at the fair assumed that I did the whole thing. It really wasn't all me. It was Ben. Well, he is pretty much all me!
 

Sewing is such a thrill. Science is....well....not that high on my list. But spending time with my son and helping him enjoy the wonder that is typing might rank higher than even sewing. This week will be an attempt to get my sewing mojo back. I have a feeling that I will look back on my sewing hiatus and wish for more of them, provided they are filled with hours with my little meticulous Ben. Wait until I teach him to sew....