Scarby 30th Season is history

Another season of Scarby has gone into the history books. Overall, it was a very odd season. No Rogues piping (either in their original form or in another incarnation) on a regular basis. In the 9 years I've been going, at least once a year, I've NEVER been without either The Rogues, or Scottish Mayhem, which was comprised of former Rogues members playing. Shoppes were moved around. Or gone. Acts were moved. Or gone. Somehow the magic was out of whack. At first I thought it might be the absence of bagpipes, but since wherever I went in the shire, even to areas where there weren't usually bagpipes, the energy was different, there's more to it, though I've no idea what it was. Several people who are usually about, either working, or simply adding to the atmosphere along with the rest of us weren't there.
Today was harder than I really anticipated, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that my <3 is still very much in control of what it wants, regardless of what is best for it, or what my brain tries to convince is the best thing for all of us. I finally got around to sharing my frustrations with someone I thought might be 1. Understanding, 2. Supportive, and 3. Helpful in overcoming the issues. I was, actually surprised that my plea was ignored, and once again, I simply don't matter as much as other people do. Eventually I will learn this lesson, and retain the knowledge in some manner that will keep me from getting stomped on regularly. I hope.
Now off to bed, for tomorrow starts much earlier than I am accustomed to starting, and will likely end later than my usual bedtime.

New Projects

It's been a busy couple of days, and several projects have gotten accomplished.

1. 
   
   Corset pattern for undercorset which won't poke me in the ass like my first one did
   1. Pattern drafted as one piece that I can use to make a couple of covers
   2. 
      
      Pattern drafted into separate pieces that can be made with or without a busk
      1. First layer of new undercorset cut & pinned
2. 
   
   New Bloomers
   1. Memorial Day/4^th of July stars
   2. Pirate
3. 
   
   Skirted Pirate corset
   1. Outer layer of fabric cut for corset cover
4. 
   
   Use existing pieces to create jewelry for sale
   1. 1 necklace with matching earrings set
   2. 2 necklaces with fused glass pendants
5. Create ETSY shop to sell jewelry and whatever else I decide to make and market

I'm not sure what prompted me to go ahead and get off my ass and actually make the jewelry, except that I have had some of the pieces for a couple of years, without doing anything with them. Some of the beads are old necklaces of my mother's and grandmother's that I'd disassembled to use some of the beads in different projects.
I'm thinking that perhaps I will start trolling garage, yard and estate sales, see what I can find and repurpose into something new and interesting. I'm not expecting to make a living at it, but perhaps it will bring in enough income to cover some of the bills until I'm working again, AND when I do start working again, it will be a source of fun money, in addition to creative expression. In the meantime, watch my ETSY Shoppe

My undercorset pattern is going to be fairly tedious, because well, I've got one layer cut and pinned, but I need 3 more layers cut into the 5 pieces, 20 bones, and all of the assembly. I drafted the pattern off of my favorite red corset. It's not actually renaissance period, in that it doesn't do the whole conical shape thing, but DAMN I do love the silhouette I get when I wear it, and it fits me better than any other corset or bodice I've ever worn, so I'm going with it, and if it comes to pass that I MUST be wearing something more historically accurate, I believe I can achieve the line using the overdress.
I've also drafted a one-piece pattern of the same corset, because I plan to make at least a couple of covers for it, so that I can get more wear out of it, and have a few different looks with just the one corset as the foundation. The Skirted Pirate corset will probably be an entity unto itself, however, because I just can't visualize how to make it one of the covers.

Pirate bloomers, well, my second pair of self-made bloomers were pirates… and I LOVE them, still… which reminds me, I need to take the elastic in on those about an inch and a half so I don't accidentally pants myself at faire. I've also got some really fun skull fabric that I think will make a cute second pair. This season I'm only out at faire on Sunday of Pirate weekend, but in other years I'm usually out there both days, so 2 pairs of pirate bloomies would be fabulous. I'm hoping to get them whipped out tomorrow so I can wear them on Sunday

Memorial Day Bloomies… my original pirate bloomies are red, white & blue, and have been just fine, but last year I found this awesome blue fabric with red white & blue stars on them. I have until next Thursday to get these finished, before I head to west TX for the #1 Boy's HS graduation, after which we may be making a dashing trip back early Saturday morning so we can make part of Saturday, plus all day Sunday, and Darla can head home after Parade Monday.

In other news, this morning I had a call from a firm to whom I submitted a resume last week, asking me to come in this morning for an interview. I literally had an hour and a half from initial call to scheduled interview time. I hate not having time to prepare, and I'm not sure I did as well as I would like to have, but I gave it my best shot, and should know by the middle of next week whether they want me to come back for another interview, or if they've made a decision.
Much to do tomorrow, so now it's off to bed with me…

Trying to get better

I'd gotten pretty lazy about posting, I suspect, mostly because I was too tired to do anything by the time I got home from work. Now that I'm back out on the jobhunt again, perhaps I will get better about keeping up with my thoughts and ideas for posts. I've decided to break my Fibro posts off to a separate blog, more to consolidate them and keep them a little more organized for me, than anything else.
A lot has been going on, and this may wind up being a much more rambling post than originally planned, but hey, I've got a good bit to put into words, and it's my blog, so I can do that…
Scarborough:
For the past 8 years or so (admittedly only the past 3 of them full runs), Scarby has been a place of magic and joy for me. It's been an escape. Home. Family. Comfort. Love. Acceptance. Magic and Music. I knew going in that this year would be different, several acts that I enjoy are missing, either entirely or present only in limited runs. There has been some drama that affected me indirectly. My funds have been limited. Opening weekend there was an almost eerie silence in Pecan Grove. My schedule is all messed up. Oh, that's right, I don't have a schedule this year, because my favorite performing friends aren't on shire. I have never been at Scarby without full time bagpipe shows. Sure there's a piper in parade every day, but since I am not about to put myself into the Death March, I get about 5 minutes of bagpipes as the Scottish Regiment goes by. Even if I was willing to do the Death March, walking a mile over the course of almost ½ hour, hearing the same bit of tune on endless loop would likely put me off the pipes for a bit! I've adjusted over the past 4 weekends to the lack of pipes, and that's not nearly as annoying as it was the first weekend, but overall, the energy of the festival is just off somehow. I can't put my finger on it, but it's there. Vendors have moved, or been removed. Some of the new additions have been umm, questionable. I've elected to forego even walking into one of my favorite shoppes as a result of behavior exhibited by one of the owners at another festival. The last 2 seasons, I've not missed a single day. This year, I'm only going to make 1 full weekend of the remaining 4, the rest I will miss one of the days, in an effort to conserve $, gas, and make sure I can make my #1 boy's HS graduation over Memorial Day weekend. Surprisingly, it's not as heart wrenching as I thought it would be to begin with… perhaps on some level, without the usual magic, it just doesn't seem as if I'm giving up as much as I would have, say last season…
Work:
When I started the job in February, I was excited about the possibilities and opportunities I believed were opening to me. The early mornings and long days were hard to adjust to, getting up at 5 a.m. so I could leave by 6 and be at work by 7, and not getting home until 6:30, IF I didn't have any stops to make, but worth it in the end since I had 3 day weekends every week. I adjusted, and I thought things were going along just fine. A couple of weeks ago, I was assigned to go out into the field with an inspector, to give me a better understanding of that side of the work the company does. Monday and Tuesday were fine… not terribly warm, poles we had to check were not difficult to access. Wednesday, we had to go to a site that had 3 poles in a river bottom sort of area. I made it down to and up from the first one, huffing and puffing. The grade to get to the 2^nd & 3^rd was just more than I have the balance or stamina for, so I didn't even try. The inspector told me not to worry about it, it's not like I was going to be out in the field anyway. Monday after that (April 26^th), I was called into my manager's office and terminated. I was under a 90-day probationary period, which had not yet passed, so I don't know that I will get approved for unemployment, but we'll see. In the meantime, I am going back to Ebaying, and hunting for a job, and trying to get blogging better. I am also going to look at perhaps making pins or something that I could sell online…
Other stuff:
Last weekend was hard, physically and emotionally. I suspect it was a combination of the stress of the wedding, losing my job, and general blah-ness that made it hard on me. Sometimes I HATEHATEHATE being the strong one. It's been a long time since I was part of a couple. I truly thought I'd gotten past the heartbreak of last fall, when I decided that I would stop beating my head up against a wall that was not ever going to come down. I was wrong. It just annoys the hell out of me that everyone wants to hang with and make sure that the ones who have someone else taking care of them are taken care of… Sometimes I just want to smack them and say "HEY, WHAT ABOUT ME?" I don't know what it is about my personality that makes me try to hide my frustration about the situation, but I recognize that I do need to work on being more honest about what's really going on in my head or heart when someone asks me what's wrong, instead of just saying "meh, I'm tired"

Another Monday…

So last Monday I went back to work, as usual, after having been out in the field learning a bit more about the inspection side of what the company does. Around 3:30 that afternoon, I was called into the Regional Manager's office, and told that after 60 days (it was a 90-day probationary period), the company had evaluated and re-evaluated where the position needs to go, and decided that it's just not a good fit for me. I was completely astounded. As far as I know, I didn't do anything to bring it on. I was never told that the position was being reevaluated, or that they were considering changing the duties that had been outlined when I was hired. I was there every day, on time, without leaving early or taking any extra time at lunch. I did what I was asked or told to do. I spent a week out in the field, hiking to places I could not foresee what I might encounter. There were 2 poles that I could not get down to, because the grade was steep enough and my balance is poor enough that getting down there would have involved sitting on my ass and sliding down, then hoping I could crawl back up again. The inspector I was working with said it wasn't a problem, and I took him at his word, since I was hired as an Administrative Assistant.

On the up side, if there is one, I did have plenty of time to finish my dress for the wedding I was in this past weekend, as well as helping the bride finish a couple of other projects that HAD to be done, including one that we didn't even discover until Thursday night, when we were supposed to leave just past noon on Friday to head out! The wedding was lovely, we had a good turnout at the wedding, at faire, and at the reception. My dress turned out better than I expected, though there are a few things I will tweak for the next Irish dress I make. This one will strictly be a March/early April and November/December piece of my garb. It cost me about $10 to make, including fabric (must LOVE the $1/yd room at one of the Fabric District shops), thread, plastic zip ties, grommets, and ribbon to lace with. My next one is going to be reversible, I think, but I've not chosen colors, although I have found a lovely green that I like at Joann's in a 97/3 Cotton/Spandex.

I've taken today to try to get caught up on the rest I didn't get over the weekend. Tomorrow I'll finish updating my resume again, get some applications going, and get some Ebay listings up, in order to start some income generation to tide me over until I can find something full time.