First Day, Best Day

So, yesterday was the first day of High School for William.  He is going to my old high school, Cary High School, this year.  He isn't very excited, as none of his friends are going there.  But, it is across the street from the mall, so that's something, and since I got to choose this year, I chose CHS because it's a much better school.  He seemed happy when he returned home, so I won't worry too much. Yeah, right.
I also received these yesterday:

These are the contracts from DRG Publishing for the pattern I wrote and made for their magazine, Crochet World.  This means that they accepted my work and are willing to pay me for the final product.  What a relief! I did not realize how much their acceptance has been holding me back.  I don't think I have worked on anything serious since I sent off my finished object in the mail back on August 1st.  Why? If I knew the answer to that, I could write a self help book and make lots of money, because I have a feeling I am not the only one who has trouble accepting their own work as valid and valuable.  But that's another post.  For now, lets just say, "Yipee!" 

The Big Mag Project

 Have you ever had a big project with a due date and realized that, no matter how panicked you are, the detailed work just is *not* going to go any faster...?  That was my reality for the last 6 days. I had planned to have my project shipped to the publishers by Friday of last week. Due to a seaming error, part of it had to be ripped out. So by Friday at 3:00 pm, I realized that I wasn't going to make that date. So I settled for Monday.  By Monday night (or should I say Tuesday a.m.) I had all the ends woven-in and was ready to do the edging work.  Great! Shipping by this afternoon for sure....Nope.  Woke up Tuesday realizing a major detail may need to be completely reworked and began questioning my layout and piecing of the whole thing to the point of calling my Mentor...out of town...dang-it!  After thinking things through, realized the project was best as done. I was confident in proceeding as planned but as I began working on planned edging, I realized that it was not exactly working out well.   My only recourse then was to email  the publisher to get approval to change my original proposal. Approval granted. Edging finished by 4:51 pm on Tuesday afternoon.  No chance of blocking this today with kids and pets running around.   Wednesday morning, I blocked the project, folded it and shipped it out by 10:15. It is due Friday...USPS is pretty reliable, right? If they say it will arrive on 8/3/12, it does? Fingers crossed and prayers going up...daily.
I know this experience is not unique to me.  I have read tweets and posts and listened to designers talk about preparing projects for publication.  It seems that most sweat the deadline. And I wasn't thinking the experience would be any easier for me, either, but, Wow! I am exhausted.  I wouldn't describe what I am feeling as 'relieved' or 'satisfied.'  More like, anxious.  Hope it gets there on time and that the publishers are as happy with it as I am. Now to finish the written pattern and forward that today.
Since I can't share pictures of my project, I'll share a picture of the sweet young man who helped me clean the living room and do dishes and generally, put up with me, so that I could work on what has come to be known at my house as 'The Big Mag Project.'  Thanks, Will!