Progress

I got the kitchen sparkling.

I made the water bottle tote. Found the cutest button, so now it's adjustable. I think this is a big design improvement, and is going to be standard on any I make from now on.

Made a bunch of phone calls, but still need to make more today.

Want to sew more today: coasters, and I'd like to cover the notebook I'm keeping in my purse with fabric.

And of course there's the strawberry jam.

I don't know what time the kids will get home (or leave again), but I've got plenty to do!

Day of Freedom

In a couple hours, my Dad is coming to get the girls for a sleepover. Jeff is going to see Transformers with some buddies tonight. I have the day to myself. So what will I do with myself? Oh, the possibilities, they are endless.

But the goals, while few, are large:

Sewing. I'm making another water bottle holder, this time for a toddler. Shouldn't take too long, but I'm making a major modification to the design, which will hopefully make the strap adjustable but still sturdy. We'll see how it goes. If it goes well, I'll modify another one that I already made. Warning: this involves buttonholes, which are seriously iffy for me, even with my automatic buttonhole foot. I also want to make some more fabric coasters. I love the one I made already, but we need at least one more.

Clean the kitchen. DEEP CLEAN. 'nuff said.

Jam. We got a huge bucket of strawberries on Monday. I bought more jars, more lids, more pectin. Sadly, I don't think we'll get many cherries off Kelsey's tree, but if the weather is good next week, might go to the U-pick place. I need my sour cherry jam!!!

So. Three goals. Not much, right? Hah. We'll see how it goes . . .

Addendum: I forgot that I also have several phone calls to make, about classes to teach, having the faucet on the back of the house replaced, our homeowner's taxes, and masonry repair work and food service laws for church.

New Favorite Blog

Don't get me wrong. The Pioneer Woman still rocks it out for cooking, and homeschool stuff, photography, and great stories.

But I recently discovered 500 Pieces of Prudent Advice for My Baby Daughter, and I love it. It's like that "Wear Sunscreen" commencement speech (which was not delivered by Kurt Vonnegut). Anyway, go check it out. There is also some art interspersed, one of which is mildly not safe for work.

A Hard Decision

We have a friend over for a SUPERSLEEPOVER (her dad dropped her off yesterday morning and is picking her up tomorrow night). Now, three girls can usually find plenty of stuff to do on nice summer days. As insurance, I loaded up the schedule a little bit. Yesterday, we went to a Detroit Shock (WNBA) game. The Shock lost, but we still had a good time.

We're supposed to go on my Dad's boat with him today. We thought about going yesterday, but today's weather was supposed to be better. Guess what? It's going to rain, probably all day. Not good boat weather at all.

We could reschedule for tomorrow (which would have the added bonus of giving me today at home to get some cooking and sewing done), but tomorrow is Park Day, where we meet up with bunches of (mostly homeschooling) friends.

So, boat or park? I'm going to leave it up to them, whenever they wake up (we got home laaaaaate last night).

Update: They chose the boat!

Buy American?

Yesterday, I got an email forward from a friend called "Read Labels, Buy USA." It was about companies such as Hershey's cutting American jobs while opening a plant in Mexico, and how the original author switched from Colgate to Crest for the same reason. The final exhortation was to read labels to see where a product is made, and to make a point of buying American.

So I did an experiment: I picked up various products around my house to see where they were made (I'm planning to recreated this as a math/graphing lesson, too). Here are the results of this very unscientific study.

China

• The cheap MdDonald’s toys—well, duh.
• My camera
• The can of compressed air that we use to get dust out of the computer
• Plastic dishes
• Land’s End fabric kid’s hat
• Scooby-Doo beach towel
• A pack of math flash cards

USA

• My computer paper
• Avon hand lotion
• An old German textbook
• SoftSoap liquid hand soap
• Thank you cards
• Geography workbook
• Raisins (Meijer brand)
• Canned chickpeas (Delallo)
• Bigelow tea bags
• Pasta (Meijer brand)
• Crayola crayons

Brazil: Fish beach towel
Canada: non stick cooking spray
Malaysia: china plates
Indonesia: TV remote control
Bulgaria: Land’s End pajama top

There were also many items that said "Distributed from" instead of "Made in." Some things I couldn't find even that much.

The thing is, how do you determine if you really are "buying American?" Take cars. American automakers have plants in other countries, and foreign companies have plants here, as well as dealerships, etc. So there are American jobs there.

When we say, "Buy American," what does that really mean?