The contest bag

Today I finished my bag, well, 99.9 % of my bag is finished, for the Kaufmann contest. I am pleased so far but will feel best when it is in the mail and on its way. I am hoping for that to be tomorrow. Once it is in the mail I will post all the details. What I have left is to just hand sew the lining in around the zip and to attach a little chochtkey to the zipper pull. Then off it goes. Oh, and it requires some special labeling for identification so all of that will happen tomorrow. I worked hard on it today, cutting and doing the lining. I also had to re do the zipper area 3 times on one side and two times on the other. It was just downright awkward. I ended up doing about 4 inches of the zipper placket by hand as I just could not get a decent seam despite basting by hand. I think it will be OK. Last night I spent the evening perusing the winners from past years, not the first time I have done this. I think I have a pretty good chance, but that's all I am saying, just pretty good. If I win it will be nice, if not, I will have enjoyed the competition.

For those who don't know me, I love competition. I grew up with 6 brothers and compete is what we did all day, every day. We would compete at monopoly, compete at building forts, compete at picking berries, and even compete at having the coolest bikes. We would compete at everything. Our parents encouraged this behavior every step of the way, feeling that if we could compete in our youth, we could compete in our adulthood as we made our way thru the ways of the world. So this competition thing is something my brothers and I share to this day and we so enjoy it. To say this personality trait stood me well in my sales career is an understatement. It's just another reason I am glad I had 6 brothers, too.

It seems we are all catching the "parting shot" bug from Summerset. As I sit this evening in air conditioned comfort I share with you a picture from last winter. It's VERY hot out tonight. This picture is of our "front forty" some time around last January or February. To me it looks like a travel brochure for Jamaica. You see when I look at this cold scene, I acknowledge that it is beautiful, but I also know that it is about 20 below and I want to get the hell out of here and head to the islands! Hope this leaves you feeling cool....Bunny