OMG!

Hallo!  So on Monday I found out that my lateral entry teaching program will officially be over on Monday, April 28th!!!  Long story short, they told me I only qualify to get two scores counted toward my final decision instead of three.  I wept in the car from sheer joy that this 10+ year journey is about to be a finished chapter in my book.  It's unbelievable to me how this has really weighed down on me.  The original plan was to be a teacher in NY.  It took almost 4 years for me to finish my undergraduate, then I went back to grad school the next semester, then I was there for a few years, and was almost finished, but then got sick, and could never bring myself to go back since I hated my program so much.  I was floundering around about what I should do, when a year ago, I received an invitation to apply in Charlotte to be a teacher.  I bit, and my whirlwind of a year began.  Now I find it will be officially over soon.  My scores are in the passing range and in a celebratory gesture, I dropped thirty bucks on a nice goodwill haul.  Mostly work clothes, of course.  Phase One of Farm in Five is nearing completion.  Though I think I have to stay in North Carolina for two more years to get my permanent license, there's no more school or program requirements.  They said they will give us more info about that on Monday.

So I submitted my magazine article, and am awaiting news from the editor.  This is so exciting.  My life is slowly starting to resemble what I've always envisioned.  It's going to take more time to get there, but Phase Two of Farm in Five is Make More Money/Buy a House.  I'm going to have to find a second job, and get our finances in order to get a house in the next two years, but it's looking good.  Pretty much right on track.    The plan is to buy the cheapest house I can through a government sponsored lottery for public servants in teaching, firefighters, police and EMT. This will allow me, hopefully to cut my rent in half, and within three years, sell the property for a profit since I am only required to pay 50% of the mortgage, and have a down payment for the farm.  In preparation for our home, I've been watching lots of DIY and HGTV.  Can't wait to add "home improvement diva" to my resume!

Lastly, with all this other stuff off my mind, I can focus on getting the competitions details hashed out for SAFF.  In the last few years, there has not been a proper fleece/sheep to shawl competition.  This makes me sad. Something like this can inspire someone to be a spinner or a weaver and add to our growing ranks.  I know it did for me.  I'm responsible for bringing it back now.  Up till now, I've been focused on the rules, and logistics of the event.  It's time to start thinking about how it will look, as well as how to get more participants and also how to drum up prizes.  Because there are so many new weavers, and I know I was prevented from participating in this event until I found someone with a four harness loom and four other spinners, I'm proposing to also have a rigid heddle scarf competition.  I believe this will attract more people and is appropriate for people who have less skill and equipment in weaving.  It will also allow for more creativity from the spinners, who will be allowed to make art yarn, weave in locks, use angelina and other fun stuff, and use commercially prepared roving and drum carders/carding boards.  This one will be a bit more challenging to form rules for and I think I need to form a practice team first to get a handle of how many people are needed to make it so.  Also, I'm toying with the idea of a "Wild Card" team, who will be supplied with tools/equipment/materials needed so we can get one more team made up of people who didn't register, but would like to compete and can sign up the weekend of the fair.

Whew!  Been busy!