close to the end

 The end of the month is coming and my numbers are really sad.  Today I was hoping to get lots of fabric cut and more kits made.  I had a lot of helpers show up at our last quilt day and everyone took home quilt kits and has brought them back already.  The problem is, I just haven't been able to keep up with them in the quilting department!  even with the extra help from my former student every day, I am still feeling so overwhelmed.

I'm in a battle with the new Tech guy who has blocked our access to youtube, where I get lots of great, short videos that I use to teach with.  I've really tried to be patient and wait for him to unblock them, but there just is no communication as to why he did that.  He's making decisions that affect my teaching ability and I'm frustrated.  So, I wrote an email to the Superintendent, School board president and several other high up district office people explaining why I'm so frustrated and then forwarded that to my principal so when I no longer have a job, she will understand :)

She wrote me back and explained that our infrastructure was about to collapse and the new Tech guy has been busy with lots of other things, but I think it is common courtesy to answer emails and let teachers make decisions about how they teach curriculum in the classroom.  If the school board wants to tell me what to teach, and it goes along with what the State tells me what to teach, fine, but let me decide the best method of presenting the material.  I'm using books that were published in 2001 and we have no money to buy new ones.  These kids were raised on technology.  We recently purchased new computers and now I don't have access to the programs and videos for those computers.  So, our laptops have now become giant paperweights.

No wonder I have a massive migraine today.

But tomorrow will come and go and I will either get a response from one of the higher ups, or be ignored as in the past.  Most likely, they will get a good chuckle out of my dilemma and think, 'there she goes again, Tilting at Windmills.'

This quilt is very beautiful and I know someone will ask for the pattern.  The lady who made it just took a random size center square and used strips of different widths around the outside.  It is very beautiful, but it was a bit tricky to quilt since it wasn't sewn to foundation fabric so it stretched a bit and has some puckers.  She agreed that if she were to do it again, to start with a foundation fabric and sew to that, which would make it a bit thicker, but provide stability.  A great way to use up all of those leftover strips and strings.

Here's hoping you had a better day than I did.