Quilting Lessons

I'm making a t-shirt quilt for someone at church, and it's been a true learning experience. I'm hoping to make some more, even as a home business. As a first try, it's turning out ok, but I plan for next time to go a lot better.

Things I've learned:

• make a point of cutting everything very accurately
• cut the interfacing a lot bigger than you need; it's easier to trim it after than not have enough
• make sure edges are even before you sew them together
• go ahead and pin, even if you don't think you need to (see previous)
  
• iron seams as you go
• don't bother with iron-on batting--you won't save any time or effort over pinning in traditional batting (from now on, I'm getting Warm & Natural 100% cotton)
  
• buy twice as much thread as you normally would
• tear, don't cut, the selvage edges off

Will post a picture of the finished quilt once it's all done!

I'm at it again

This time, with a bit of a twist. I wanted to see how little I could get away with spending on groceries for the next two weeks. I plan to make heavy use of what's already in the cupboards/fridge/freezer. These items include:

• 2 pounds of beef sirloin tip steak
  
• almost 6 pounds of country ribs
  
• some colored peppers & broccoli
  
• lasagna noodles, spaghetti noodles, pasta sauce, tomato paste, canned tomatoes
• dried beans
• a can of chickpeas
• a pound of cooked ground beef
• a bag and a half of rice (some of it is going to a rice hand warmer I'm making for someone at church)
• 2 boxes of mac & cheese
• can of tomato soup
  

I went to the store today for milk, eggs, bread, soy sauce, cheese, sweet potatoes, lettuce, apples & bananas, among other things. I had $4.70 in can/bottle returns, and got a lot of stuff for $43. I did get pop, which normally I wouldn't do on such a screamingly tight budget. But Jeff is an admitted pop addict, and if there is pop in the house, he's less likely to want to go out to get some, thus coming home with other things as well. It's a weird kind of investment. One thing I forgot to get was peanut butter. We go through a lot of it, and for some reason, I thought we had two jars. Nope, and we're almost out of the one.

Planned meals for the next couple weeks are:

• Fajitas - this will be Monday, since the meat is no where near thawed yet, but the peppers need to be used up quickly.
• Chili - using the ground beef, spicy canned tomatoes, dried beans, cheese, rice. Leftovers will get incorporated into cornbread muffins. Salad on the side.
• Country ribs - these need to be thawed, marinated, and grilled. We'll have them one night as is, with baked sweet potatoes, and use the rest for fried rice, pulled pork, stir fry, lo mein, and anything else I can think of.
• Spaghetti - I'll finely chop some carrots, onions, & celery, then brown it in a big pan. Add tomato paste, let that brown, then a can or two of diced tomatoes. I'll cook up the Italian sausage and add that. Then I'll take the jarred pasta sauce I have and add that, so I should have tons. Salad & garlic bread on the side, and there will be enough sauce for . . .
  
• Lasagna roll ups - cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, an egg, and some Italian seasoning. Cook the noodles über al dente, and roll up the filling. Traditional lasagna is a little hard on portioning, so I'm hoping this will make it easier. Again, salad & garlic bread.
  
• Breakfast for dinner - always a hit! Scrambled eggs, biscuits, and ham leftover from Easter dinner.
  

I need to do a fair bit of advance prep, like cooking up the sausage and soaking the beans.

After beautiful weather this week, we're supposed to get back to a more standard spring--colder and rainy, so I'm looking forward to still being able to make some cool-weather foods before summer hits. Any ideas for what to do with the chickpeas and the rest of the sirloin?

2nd Grocery Bill

I didn't intend to go grocery shopping again so soon, but Randazzo's had colored peppers on sale for 69 cents a pound. That is crazy cheap, and a friend asked me to pick a couple up for her as well, so I ran in. I ended up getting 6 peppers, 2 lemons, a head of broccoli, some fresh ginger, a jar of honey, some Nona bread, and a dozen eggs. $10.55. I'm happy with that, and it brings my total for the month $30.62.

Tonight's dinner is peach pork chops with broccoli and rice, and I'll cook up some egg rolls from the freezer. Sarah requested biscuits & gravy, so I'll do that tomorrow. We still have some $10 Applebee's cards--maybe that will be lunch after church on Sunday, and we'll have a light dinner. Next week, I'm planning on pot roast one day; thinking of French Dip sandwiches as a leftover from that. Also, ham & bean soup. Gonna have to get to that bread at some point.

Lauren's mild fever kept hanging on all week, getting as high as 103 yesterday. Saw the pediatrician this morning, and she's had her first dose of Amoxycillin already. though of course she still doesn't feel great.

1st Bill

We ran to Aldi to pick up a few things yesterday, and even though I did pick up some splurge items, we made it out for $20.07. For that, we got:

• an individual pack of sunflower seeds (eaten by me and Sarah during lunch at CC today),
  
• a gallon of milk,
  
• a box of frozen french toast sticks,
  
• a box of individual bags of chocolate covered pretzel rings--100 calories per box (this is something I am certain I can make on my own, though portion control will be a big factor),
  
• a box of couscous,
  
• a package of three romaine hearts,
• a couple pounds of red grapes,
  
• brown sugar,
  
• two frozen pizzas (having them in the freezer means Jeff is less likely to go out to satisfy late night munchies),
  
• a bag of flour,
  
• a bag of Golden Delicious apples.

I haven't started any bread yet--yesterday got away from me, and we were at CC today. Well, Sarah & I were. Lauren had a 100.6 fever (NOT 106, as two people misheard me; guess I need to enunciate better!), so Jeff stayed home from work with her. She's doing better now, though she says her throat is still sore.

Tonight's goal is to eat leftovers and start some bread, which I can finish tomorrow. Don't have a plan for tomorrow's dinner yet.

No Bread for You!

Last night's soup was pretty well received. Jeff even took some for lunch today without being nudged. We'll see what the kids think about leftovers for lunch.

While making pancakes this morning, I realized that we are almost out of flour. I made a dozen pasties on Saturday (the kids actually ate them this time!), six of which are now in the freezer. That should keep Jeff through the cold weather. But it ate up a lot of my flour, and being out of flour is not a good thing. If I'm going to start making bread regularly, I'll need to get more flour and yeast. I might have to pester someone with a Costco membership one of these days . . .

But for today, a quick trip to Aldi for a few things (also low on milk) should take care of us. Today's agenda holds a lot of schoolwork, a lot of housework, and a few errands. Dinner will be soft tacos.

This morning I made "maple syrup." For a while, I was buying pure maple syrup. The problem with that is twofold. First, the cost compared to the rate we go through it. Between pancakes, waffles, french toast, and granola (used to make the granola, not to eat it once it's done), we were going through a lot of syrup. Second, I can't get it at Aldi or Randazzo's, my two go-to stores. When I go to Meijer, it's to get all the stuff I can't get elsewhere, and it's an expensive trip. Therefore, I go only when I have to.

I could buy the fake stuff, but I'm not a not a fan of all the extra stuff in it. So I make my own fake stuff. Make a simple syrup by bringing a cup of sugar & a cup of water to a boil. Let it boil gently for a few minutes, then turn off the heat. Add a teaspoon of maple extract, stir, and there you go! I even sprang for a restaurant-style syrup dispenser. I was using a plastic squeeze bottle, but the lid wasn't sealing tightly, so it made a mess.

For a minor cost breakdown, you can figure that a 5-pound bag of sugar is about $2. A 1-oz bottle of maple extract was $3.63. That makes my syrup about $.26 per cup. The dispenser did cost me over $6 (which seriously killed me), but that thing had better last forever. I think that's a pretty good deal for a homemade convenience food!

New Focus

I've been thinking & reading more lately about meal planning, cooking, saving $ on feeding the family. How do you eat for a week for $50? I've always liked reading Hillbilly Housewife, and although her $45 Emergency Menu, I haven't done a lot of the recipes there.

I am about to kick off a big soup season, though. Tonight is going to be Minestrone with Multigrain Rolls (Rhodes), and I've got a package of bean soup mix & a ham bone. I also have some beef bones & some barley. I'm going to cook up some dry beans and freeze them, so that making chili will be easy.

And since I got a Dutch Oven for Christmas, I'm going to give No Knead Bread a try, hopefully today/tomorrow.

I'm also going to post my grocery receipts, with an eye to keeping the budget down to $250. We have a very full pantry right now, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Minestrone Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans (I'm using garbanzo beans tonight, because that's what's in the cupboard)
1 box frozen spinach, thawed & excess water squeezed out
1/2 cup Italian sausage, cooked & crumbled
6 cups vegetable broth (I'd use chicken broth if it was just me and the girls eating)
2 cups small dried pasta (I'm using small shells)
parmesan cheese

1. Saute onions & garlic in olive oil in a large pot. Add carrots & celery. Cook for about 5 minutes.
   
2. Add tomatoes, beans, broth, spinach & sausage.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for half an hour.
4. Add pasta; cook another 10 - 15 minutes.
   
5. Serve with parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top (if you have a leftover parm cheese rind, throw it in the pot with the broth)
   

Tomatoes and Beans and Peppers, Oh My!

I got not one but TWO seed catalogs in the mail yesterday. I looked through them while it was snowing. I love a good bit of incongruity!

Last year, I had such big dreams for the garden. I

• dog eared pages in my catalogs (in addition to the must haves of my title, I'd love to do sweet peas, pumpkins, lettuces, gourds, potatoes, cucumbers for pickling, and don't even get me started on the flowers!),
  
• considered starting seeds indoors,
  
• wondered how I could expand the size of the plot without breaking my back,
  
• worried about keeping out the critters (not so many bunnies last year, but there's a wood chuck living next door)
  
• and even dreamed of an apple tree (forgetting that you generally need to plant two close together so that they pollinate).

And yet, I planted nothing. (insert sad frowny face here) This year, I really would like to expand the size of the garden, if only to get it away from the back fence, because there is a lot of vegetation that encroaches on that area.

I've read a lot about lasagna gardening, but I should have started it three months ago. I think it'll still work if I start it once the snow is gone, though.

I do miss having a garden, so I hope I stay motivated this year.

Fresh Start

OK, the start of a new week. Still lots to do, but I feel so much more energized and ready to get started!

The Serger came unthreaded again (of course), and it's the one thread that consistently gives me trouble. I'm going to call the store today and schedule a private lesson on how to use it. It's pricey, but if it means I'll be able to use the machine more effectively, it'll be a totally worthwhile use of my birthday $.

So sewing & baking are at the top of the list this week. Jeff comes home tomorrow night, and he'll be home Wednesday & Thursday as well. Sarah has Spelling Camp tomorrow, and her Girl Scout Party on Wednesday. Lauren has her party on Thursday, and my Dad & Sharon are coming to take them to see the lights Thursday night.

Here's looking forward to a fun, busy, productive week!

Epiphany

One of the things that has been stressing me is this dance for Lauren on Sunday. I was really lost. I knew it didn't have to be Julliard-quality, but I really didn't know what to do at all.

Then I realized--all she needs to do is get out in front of the rest of the choir, smile, and have fun with it. Yeah. Lauren can pretty much do that in her sleep. I realized that what I really needed to do was get out of her way and let her go for it.

So we watched a couple authentic hula instruction videos on YouTube, and also watched the only YouTube file of Christmas on the Beach in Waikiki, which includes a bunch of guys in grass skirts being goofy. She loved it, and has come up with something fairly passable on her own already. We'll go over it a couple more times, but this is another thing that I do not need to have total control over. Yay!

a little overwhelmed

still don't know what to do with Lauren for her solo Hawaiian dance

my mom is recovering well from her surgery (new hip), but hearing her sound so subdued and tired (on the phone) is really odd.

my dad is sick with some kind of bug, and so morose that he's thought about starting smoking again, and is now ready for my stepmom to pierce his ear.

haven't done any sewing

haven't finished photo albums, still can't get good pictures

just not motivated to do much of anything

On my mind

• still need to make three kimonos--realized that I'm stalling because I don't have an official pattern.
• also need to make three more tiered skirts. Luckily, these are total no-brainers. Will need more elastic for the waists.
  
• need to figure out a dance for Lauren to do to "Christmas on the Beach at Waikiki" for church. Know it doesn't have to be authentic at all, but would still like it to look good. Fairly stumped on this, though I've been looking at a lot of YouTube.
• I deleted over 4000 old emails today.
• love this idea. If it's not too much of a pain, I'll end up making LOTS of them.
  
• Jeff's grandma died yesterday. Funeral is Friday.
  
• need to get Christmas pictures of girls ASAP, but no one is in a very cheerful mood today. Also, my flash won't work. And the pictures that I did get won't download (that happens periodically, but I don't know why.)
• so glad the girls found Christmas dresses they love, and that I am not sewing those.
  

Simplify

I've wanted to do/make an Advent calendar for a few years now. Some specific Christmas activity every day just sounded really fun. This year, I even went so far as to come up with 24 activities. The first one? "Start listening to Christmas music!" because it is seriously killing them that their mom is such a Scrooge and won't listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I also had things like bell ringing for the Salvation Army, making Christmas ornaments, watching Charlie Brown and the Grinch, and baking Christmas cookies.

My first idea was to make 24 little fabric stockings. Then, I could "take a day off" and just put some candy in that stocking. Then I realized that it would be easier to just write 24 slips of paper, roll them up, and attach them with ribbon to a streamer. Of course, that sends the candy out the window.

I was telling Jeff the other night that I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it after all. I like the idea, but wasn't sure I was up to the commitment of "this day, you must do this."

At church this morning, both girls got regular paper Advent calendars--no activities, no candy. No problem! I'm glad to be off the hook on this. I have plenty of other stuff going on.

Obstacle Removed

Our Christmas program at church this year is "Christmas Around the World." We already have most of the costumes we need, but we need kimonos for 4 little girls, including Lauren. That's convenient--Lauren already has a kimono from Halloween 2008.

But that still leaves us needing three. A kimono takes a ridiculous amount of fabric--over three 1/2 yards, even for someone as small as Lauren. Blame those crazy sleeves. Brocade fabric is at least $8/yard, even on a half off sale. Um. Yeah, no. I can't expect the church to shell out $75 for three little robes.

I decided to look around for a cotton fabric, more of a "summer" kimono instead of such a formal one. Still, the only fabric I could find was $6 - $8/yard. And if I was going to use cotton, I'd have to make four. It wouldn't be right for Lauren to be in a very luxurious garment, and all the other girls in something noticeably cheaper. This isn't "The Princess and the Peasants."

So I was stumped. It was seriously giving me a fair bit of stress, to figure out what to do. This morning, I went into the costume cupboard and found a huge length of really pretty floral fabric. It would definitely pass for a summer kimono and there was enough to make two for the smallest girls, if I was really careful on the cutting.

I was talking to the Choir director about what she wanted, and the grandfather of one of the little girls overheard us. He said, "If I just give you $30 for fabric, can she keep the kimono when it's all done?" My mouth fell open. "Um. Sure!" I mean, really, why not? It's not like a size 5 kimono is something we're going to need on a regular basis anyway. I talked to another girl's parents, and they're willing to kick in. too. The last girl wasn't there today, but I'll call her parents to find out what color she likes and her size.

So now I only need to make three (if they're all brocade, Lauren can wear hers, of course), and I can get the fabric that will really make it work. Now I need to figure out how much I need to get of each color.

And I need to rethread my Serger. Again.

"Good" news

I'm going to have plenty of time to sew and get ready for Christmas. The classes that were supposed to start this week have been postponed until January. They can't get enough people to commit to a class that runs during the holidays. I get it. But it's very disappointing, to say the least.

How many times have I said that I need a job with more stability & regularity? Again, this comes back to bite me in the butt. A little discouraged today.

Truffles

Dark chocolate truffles.

Dark chocolate truffles with bacon.

Insane, right? But the recipient loved them, even though I didn't have a chance to get them into traditional truffle form, and just gave her a bowl of the mixture. I'm not sure if they're quite mainstream enough for the gift bags this year, but we'll see.

Bonus Time

Remember how I said that Jeff would get the week of Thanksgiving off work, but not between Christmas & New Year's? Well, not only was I wrong about that, he's also getting next week of as well. Working from home on Monday, but that is still at home! So before the end of this calendar year, he has three weeks at home, yay!

Time, time, time

We're busy right now: Classical Conversations goes for the rest of this month before winter break. Happy thoughts that we get enough extra students in January to start a new class, which I can then teach (and get paid for, woo-hoo!)

Although I didn't work last week or this week, classes should resume the week after that and go right up until the week before Christmas. Hopefully, I'll get enough students signed up for the MS Word class, too.

Both girls have dance and Scouts. Although Lauren's Brownie troop only has two more meetings before Christmas, I'm the co-leader for her troop, and we're not only doing her investiture ceremony, we're also having a Tea Party, and a Hat & Glove drive (to donate to Oakland Co. foster care). Sarah's working on her own stuff for scouts, but we're still in Candy & Nut sales, and as soon as that is done, cookie sales are upon us!

On the plus side, Jeff is taking off all of Thanksgiving week (gone are the days when he had paid vacation for the week between Christmas & New Year's, but it was nice while it lasted), so I know the house will be spotless when we have everyone over.

One good time management tool that we're using right now is weekly checklists for the kids. For the most part, they detail school work (which pages to do in their math books, diagramming sentences for Sarah, Tin Whistle practice, etc.) but they also have things like Dance/Stretch. Sarah's dance class this year is considerably more challenging, and the extra practice even this early has been helping. By letting them see what all they have to do, and setting daily goals (we use a highlighter to select the boxes they intend to check off each day), we're getting better about getting stuff done.

Been a While

Blame Facebook.

Now that Halloween is over, my brain has room for other holiday stuff. For example, we're hosting our first ever Thanksgiving dinner this year. Which means I'm cooking my first ever turkey this year. Plus a ham for Jeff, of course. I'd like to make a tablecloth & napkins.

I'm starting to think about Christmas as well, of course. Pajamas, as always, are on the list. I think I might do a small quilt for each girl, also. This tutorial looks like a good one. Trying to figure out what else to buy/make is really difficult right now.

And I'm dismayed to realize that I've done nothing for this year's photo album. I don't even have the pages planned out, which I usually start doing in the beginning of October. I've been taking a lot fewer pictures this year, but don't know why. I'm still committed to the album, but it's not as high on the list this year.

Last major project I'm considering right now is an Advent Calendar. I've thought about it so many times in the past, and have seen many different options. I'm thinking I'd like to make 24 little stocking to string along the fireplace, with an activity or treat in each one. We'll see if that actually happens this year, in that form or another.

Taste of Summer

For lunch today, I made corn salad: cut some (boiled) corn off the cob, cut up some tomatoes, chopped some green onions, juiced half a lime, cut up an avocado, added some olive oil, salt & pepper. The topper--bacon, baby!

The kids liked it, but not as well as last time I made it. I should have put the avocado on the side so Sarah could have avoided it altogether, and the thinly sliced red onions I used last time were probably a better choice than the scallions. Still, it's a one of my favorite summer lunches.

Convenience Foods

Found another like-minded post: Convenience Foods

I've thought about many of these things, like the "instant" oatmeal, but it's the crumble topping for fruit pies that I never thought to make ahead, but now will definitely keep in the refrigerator. Dutch Apple Pie is Jeff's drop dead favorite, and this will be a quick fix. Not sure if I want to bother with freezing my own pie crust.

Gauntlet, Picked Up

One of my cousins is getting married next month, and my mom & stepdad are coming up for a visit. In fact, my stepdad is officiating the ceremony, which will be at Greenfield Village, where Jeff & I got married lo these many years ago.

The 'rents will be here for at least two weeks, maybe as many as three. They'll split their time between several family members. My mom has decided that they want an RV, so they can go wherever they want without having to unpack every other day.

In order for them to stay with us, they need room. Sarah's bunked with Lauren in the past, but there just isn't enough space in her room.

The only place with enough room is the basement. The basement, well . . . the basement is same old, same old. Full of toys, winter clothes, blankets, dress up clothes, desks, Christmas stuff, tools, a toy kitchen, golf clubs, books, etc.

It is amazing how motivated we all are, though. The girls have spent much more time than I have down there, and they really are getting a lot done, even throwing things away! There is still soooooo much to do: get the Fisher Price Little People all together, find a way to keep the dress up stuff organized (really want a rack of some sort, so we can hang most of it) Get all the kitchen stuff together, put all the books in one place, go through the clothes and sort out what needs to be kept or given away, and throw out the twelve metric tons of crap.

It's a big job, but the motivation is there, and the deadline helps, too. Will report progress back another day.

Thinking Ahead

Life is about to hit the fan after Labor Day. All our activities start back up again: dance, Scouts, Sunday School, and Classical Conversations--so excited about that!

Work will (hopefully) also start soon--making a phone call tomorrow to schedule classes. I'm also going to start an Etsy store to try to get rid of some of my sewing projects. More on that later.

So I'm faced with impending insanity, taking the form of very little time. One of the results of very little time is that we eat like crap. We get take out far too often.

I have a plan. The plan itself is very simple: fill the freezer with things that can be pulled out and heated up quickly and easily. A solid block of a pound of frozen hamburger does not fit this plan.

Things that do fit the plan:

• taco meat
• sloppy joe meat
• seasoned cooked ground beef (for chili)
  
• pasties
• meatballs (good for spaghetti sauce, bbq sauce, sweet & sour, or brown gravy)
• Salisbury steaks
  
• pizza roll ups
• leftover ham (spiral sliced hams don't go on sale for a while, but when they do, we get a lot of leftovers out of one)
• uncooked biscuits (haven't tried this yet, but looking forward to the experiment)
• dinner rolls
• chicken fingers (every time I've made chicken fingers in the past, the kids didn't really care for them, but I'm planning to give it another go)
  
• cooked rice (just saw this idea, looking forward to trying it)
• mashed potatoes

If I can get a full freezer, I really think that life will be a lot easier on all fronts!

Just Say No

I had what I thought was a really great idea for a fundraiser for our church: a craft show. Not only could we raise money by selling table space and charging a small admission fee, our youth group could sell dogs & bratwurst (we even have a lady who can make home made sauerkraut, always a crowd pleaser), as well as baked goods.

The problem is, I can't do it. I really wanted to take the lead on this, make it happen, make it successful. I'd even already mentioned it to a few people. Everyone was very enthusiastic, and one even offered to help me, although she didn't have time to take the lead on it herself.

But between homeschooling, Scouts, Sunday School, sewing club, and (hopefully!) working, I have no time. At all. I'm already maxed out. So I need to let go of this. Maybe find someone else to champion it. Maybe just let it go. It's already gotten rather late in the season to start something like this in time for this fall.

I'm sad, knowing that it likely won't happen now. But I'm also happy and relieved to know that I won't do a crap job with it because I just don't have time.

I needed that

Yesterday really helped. We didn't stay home the entire day. We did run down to a neighbor's house to get the scoop on taking care of their cat while they're gone, and out for some cold meds for Sarah. But I do feel a little less stressed about all the running around we do.

I did get her Harry Potter scarf (part of her Halloween costume) done. Probably not the absolute best use of my time--Halloween isn't for two months, and I do have other projects to work on--but it's nice to have it taken care of.

I also went to work in Lauren's room. I usually make her do it, but I really wanted to get in there and go to town. There is still some stuff on the dresser and on the bed to go through (today), but the floor is cleaned off.

Today is the dentist and then the beach, yay!

Wish Fullfilled

I get my day at home today. Sarah has a cold, so she is also staying home, but my Dad is coming to get Lauren for a sleepover. So once she's gone, I am OFF the computer. Cleaning up, sewing, etc. is the order of the day. My goal is that when Jeff gets home tonight (late--he's going to see G.I.Joe with some of the guys) and asks me how my day went, I can use my favorite word: productive.

Being a Hermit

I am a very lucky person. I have lots of opportunities to do lots of fun things. My kids are lucky. They have lots of fun things to do, places to go, and people to see.

LOTS of things. Things like park, the other park, swimming, the boat, golf, VBS, bridal showers, sleepovers, Girl Scouts, birthday parties, church, the beach. Throw in the mechanic, the hair salon, and the dentist for good measure.

I have to admit, I'm a little tired of the social life. Actually, what I'm really tired of is spending so much time in the car. I'd really like to have a day to just stay home and do nothing. Well, not nothing. Maybe sew. Maybe clean the basement. Maybe just hang out.

Maybe not.

Cop Out

I bought fabric to make shorts for the girls weeks ago. I wanted them to have something to wear to golf with Grammy & Grandpa. Well, today was the last day of golf, and they finally had their new shorts.

My original plan was to make a pattern from scratch, using http://patternsthatfityou.com/frshortscl.htm as a guide. I think it would have worked, but in the end, I had neither the time nor the inclination. JoAnn's didn't have any patterns on sale, so I went for See and Sew 4161. Of course, I still had to alter it, making it smaller in the waist and longer in the legs. I'd still like to make a shorts pattern from scratch--maybe next summer.

Since the fabric is plaid (come on, they're for golf--what else would I use except plaid seersucker?) I tried to match up the pattern, at least the horizontal stripes. Didn't come out perfectly, but it was ok.

One of the issues I have with making pants & shorts is that it can be hard to know which is the front and which is the back. With little kids, it isn't always that much of an issue, but since I knew I had some tags, I decided to put them in. Sarah told me she really likes hers, but that it's itchy, so I might have to sew it flat or take it out or something.

Oooo, for the future I'm going to get fabric tape for my Dymo label maker! That would be awesome!

Ready to Roll

I finally got the two things I needed to accomplish two projects.

1. I found the Wonder Under left over from an applique project I was working on last summer. Now I can make the sandwich bags I've been wanting to do for a while. Snack Bag Tutorial I'm sick of wrapping sandwiches in plastic.
2. I got the green light to post flyers/promote the Resume Writing Workshop. This must be my big project for the rest of this week. If I don't get students for this, I have to find another way to bring in some income. I'm nervous. Excited, but really nervous.
   

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?

Classical Education

Classical Education, as defined by Susan Wise Bauer:

Classical education depends on a three-part process of training the mind. The early years of school are spent in absorbing facts, systematically laying the foundations for advanced study. In the middle grades, students learn to think through arguments. In the high school years, they learn to express themselves. This classical pattern is called the trivium.

Susan Wise Bauer's book, The Well Trained Mind, is one of the best homeschooling books I've read, but it's a lot to implement on your own. The concept is very systematic, and well organized.

Classical Conversations is a program based on the trivium. We went to a meeting last night for a group that wants to start a local chapter. It was a fabulous, informative meeting, and it sounds like a great program, but I do have some reservations.

High on that list is cost. For both girls it could easily run over $1,000 for the year. That doesn't include Math, either. I could offset some of that cost by working as a tutor for the program, though I don't know how much. Also, I'd certainly prefer to be able to spend all my time with them in their classes so I can see more closely what the lessons are for that week when we work on them at home. It would be more work/stress for me, obviously, but that's what having a job and making money is, at least to some extent. Would I enjoy it? Probably, but it would also be nice to be able to take that time "off." I'm strongly considering doing no co-op of any kind next year.

Another reservation is the nature of classical education itself. I know, I really like that whole "building a solid foundation" model. But the parrot stage, with its rote memorization, bugs me. Memorizing terms that have no meaning (yet) irks me. I know that the classical answer to this is that the current education model is to expect kids to learn stuff before they're ready and to make judgments about stuff the don't fully understand. I also know that this style of learning flies in the face of the Whole Language reading method I strongly prefer. (I do not dispute the importance of Phonics--I think Phonics is important and useful, but without Whole Language, it lacks meaning.)

Whenever you use a "canned" curriculum, you relinquish some freedom for that convenience. In the past, I've loved developing my own curriculum. It's been one of my favorite things, in fact. Sadly, this past year I've done precious little of that and less follow up. A program like this has some accountability built in, which can be really helpful.

The last reservation is the strong literal Christian aspect. We're Christians, go to church pretty much every week. However, I'm not so interested in defending Creationism, which I know is a part of this. But it's also likely to be a part of any co-op we join.

So--I have a lot of reservations. So why am I even considering this group? Because it would give me quite a bit of structure and framework, which I like. I do see the value in the way it is set up. It does give me flexibility within that framework.

There is a lot to consider with this. And I'm considering it.

Happy Easter!

Easter outfits, completed just this morning. In fact, I didn't get the shirt done for Lauren, but did find a tank top in her closet that is the same color as the fabric she chose for the shirt, so it worked out fine.

I'd also like to make purses and fabric flowers. I have a fair bit of scraps left, so I have a lot of options!

Why my job is awesome

Two days a week, I teach Windows Vista to senior citizens. Most times, it's pretty fun. I'd love to be able to develop a mouse that doesn't move around quite so easily; many of my students have a lot of difficulty keeping the mouse in one place while they click.

That's not the awesome part (duh). Today, as I was packing things up after class, a man walked past the door and said, "How are you doing, young lady?" I gave him a big smile and told him I was doing great, thanks. Now, really--how often am I going to be referred to as "young lady" other than that?

Love it.

Blame Facebook

I got sucked into Facebook for a while, but it's changed recently, and it's more of a pain to use, so I'm not as interested. Fickle, that's me.

I did do a little more sewing lately. I have fabric for Easter outfits, but I spent a few days last week making a few outfits for one of Lauren's dolls as a birthday present.
I made:

• a tiered skirt in yellow, orange & red with a red tank top--very festive!
• a flowery tank dress with lace at the hem & neckline and a yellow bandanna/scarf
• a pair of jeans (complete with a hole for the poodle's tail) & purple top with a narrow ribbon around the neckline

I have a pattern for doll clothes for a 14" doll, but this pink poodle is from Build a Bear, and she's about the size of a newborn. The first skirt & pants I made were a little bigger than the pattern, but the pants still reminded me of the jeans I wore in high school, where I had to lay down on my bed in order to get them zipped up! I enlarged the pattern further still, which worked out pretty well, and I gave those first attempts to a friend, hoping they might fit one of her daughters' dolls.

There are a lot more things I'd like to make, but who knows when I'll get the chance!

Best. Seats. Ever.

Jeff & I got Red Wings tickets for Christmas from my parents. I've only been to a couple Wings games before, and they're generally nosebleed seats, because that's what we can afford. These seats though, were right on the ice. At first, we thought they were both second row, then realized that they were first and second rows, one right behind the other. For the first period, Jeff sat in the front--I wanted him to have the better view. But before the period was over, my knees were really bothering me and I realized I needed to be able to stretch. That's the beauty of front row, though--I did get that room!

Sadly, the Wings lost in OT--Osgood made some good saves, but let in goals within the first minute of each period, and the defense in general was lacking--but we still had a really good time.

Of course, the highlight for me was being close enough to get pictures like this:


and this:

Results

I thought I'd finally post the results of what I've been doing lately. The dress rehearsal for Joseph was Sunday, and I did get my three costumes in (luckily, all the other costumes didn't have to be made, just put together from stuff we already have), although there are some tweaks I'd like to make before the next dress rehearsal Wednesday night. In several of the pictures, cast members have taped their microphones to their faces, which is the white stuff you see. I wish I could have gotten pictures without that, but maybe I can get better ones during the show itself.

This is Kelsey as the villainous Mrs. Potiphar (that's someone else's arm behind her, by the way). The most frustrating part about this was that my flash was too slow to get all her great facial expressions! Poor Joseph just didn't stand a chance.

I'm happy with the dress itself: It's panné velvet, with a basic scoop/square neck, empire waist, six-gored skirt. I used gold lamé bias tape around the neck (which was wonderful finishing, so I didn't have to worry about the facing) and around the sleeve on the upper arm. It doesn't show, but I also put it around the cuff. I didn't even bother to hem it--knits don't fray and I didn't have time, so I just cut it as evenly as possible.

This is Jeff as Pharaoh/Elvis. He has the most awesome dance moves--not that I'm biased at all . . . This is the costume that gave me the most difficulty in figuring out. I was seriously stumped for the longest time as to what to make.

I briefly considered making a full out jumpsuit, but it would have taken at least six or seven yards of fabric, and I just didn't have time. Also, he's wearing black pants anyway for the chorus and as Judah, a brother, so it wasn't even necessary. I finally remembered an Evel Kenievel costume my sister in law made for Jeff's brother one Halloween. She started with a white dress shirt and went from there with decorating it. At first I thought I might use a shirt as a pattern to make something totally from scratch, but then I came back to my senses. I got a nice, heavy shirt from Jeff's Dad. Someone had donated a few yards of a wavy gold tissue lamé, and I used that to cover the cuffs, collar, and front & bottom edges. I also made a short cape. Once I was done, I thought it might be more Liberace than Elvis, but I do think it works!

This is the one I want to fiddle with, though. The front doesn't lay flat the way I'd like. I'd originally wanted the shirt to close in front, with maybe an Egyptian style flap in front, but I ran out of time, and also couldn't figure out how to get it to fasten. I didn't want to sew it shut, because then he'd have to put it on & take it off over his head--awkward and slow. Velcro seems to be the obvious choice, but I've never liked it. In order for it to be really stable, I have to sew it down with many seams, and I don't want them to show. Also, I was afraid that the force might damage the lamé. Hooks on the front edges are a possibility, as are snaps if I want to overlap a little. I'm not sure that if it's closed, he'll be able to do all his moves in it, though. I also got a suggestion to put some extra white fabric between the gold on front and fasten it with tape. That's also in the running, because I could attach it to the white shirt fabric instead of the lamé. Whatever I choose, it has to be today or tomorrow, so we can see how it works tomorrow night.

This is Corey as Joseph. Although this coat took the longest to make (on Mom's recommendation, I made a muslin, which really was a huge help), it ended up not being all that difficult. Now, there were problems and there are things that I would do differently if I were to make another one.

Namely, I would use the gold lamé to underline the coat, not line it. In other words, I would cut out an identical piece of lamé for each part of the coat--fronts, back, sleeves--and sew the lining right to it, then sew the pieces together. Instead, I made essentially two coats and attached them to each other. The point was to make nice finished seams on the inside. The problem was that I didn't measure well enough and cut the lining too narrow. I had a miserable time fixing it. I ended up edging everything with more gold lamé bias tape (which Eagle Eyes Sarah saw--I didn't even know such a thing existed) anyway, so it all turned out ok.

I am happy with the basic design of the coat--I wanted it narrow at the top and flowy at the bottom, so I used 3.5" x 45" rectangles of the patterned fabric (a wild Hawaiian floral that was a bitch to cut and had to be interfaced), For the solid pieces in between, I made a trumpet shaped piece that was 1.5" at the top and 13" at the bottom, with the flare starting 18" down. My rotary cutter was a true blessing for this project. Also, making it only 45" long meant that I could use narrow pieces of fabric and cut selvage to selvage as the length. Each solid color only needed 3/8th of a yard of fabric. I only had a to buy a few pieces, since quite a bit was donated. Even the smaller donated pieces ended up working for the sleeves.

Originally, I was going to make top and bottom separately, then attach them. After much talking, my mom convinced me that one solid line would not only look better, it would be easier in the long run. As usual, she was totally right. Trying to match all those seams would have driven me to madness. She also talked me out of set in sleeves, instead just running one seam under the arm and down the side. I can't remember how many hours I spent talking to her on the phone about all the sewing I've done over the past month, but it's been a LOT. It's absolutely true that I never would have made it without her help. Thanks, Mom!

Action Items

• Make a German quiz for Kelsey
• Make a Geography worksheet for Sarah
• clean the kitchen
• make pasties
  
• muslin pattern for Mrs. Potiphar's dress
• cuddles with Lauren
• pediatrician for Lauren (she's had a barky cough for about a week that just isn't going anywhere, and last night she was crying that her ear hurt)
• listen to Lauren read the next chapter in The Knight at Dawn (Magic Treehouse, yay!)
• go through Sarah's Girl Scout Badge book with her to pick some badges for her to work on independently of her troop (she can put them in Word and fiddle with the formatting, add some pictures to make it a Computer lesson)

Sewing

I have a lot of sewing going on right now. Our church is doing a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Guess who's on the costume crew?

I'm responsible for:

• the Coat of Many Colors--I've already made a test coat from muslin (my mom gave me a ton of it from her stash over Christmas, and I've been going through it a lot). I've got most of the fabric for the outer part of the coat, and I guess I'll line it with gold lame, which I don't have yet.
  
• a dress for Mrs. Potiphar--to be worn by our own fabulous Kelsey, so I want her to look great, but still appropriately trampy. I got a boatload of purple panne velvet, and I picked up the pattern for the bodice tonight, so I'll start the muslin test dress tomorrow, and hopefully I can get it finished by next week.
  
• an Elvis/Pharaoh top--I don't need a whole jumpsuit, because of other costume choices, but this is the one that is stumping me the most. To be worn by my own fabulous husband!

There are other miscellaneous pieces to be made, although we already had a lot of stuff. All the robes for the brothers, for instance, were already in our church basement. I'm incredibly thankful for that--not that basic robes are hard to make, but making 11 of them would certainly be time consuming.

Pictures to follow (hopefully) soon!

Today's List

Looks a lot like yesterday's list. I made progress on everything on that list, but there is still much to be done. Happily, I don't have to leave the house at all, and can be a hermit and work on my chores (anyone willing to bring me lunch?) in peace.

Goals

Today's goals:

1. schoolwork with the kids until lunch (they have a friend coming over after that, so anything left over will have to wait until after dinner)
   
2. get the last of the Christmas stuff down to the basement
   
3. kitchen clean, done, finished. No dishes left in the sink!
4. two loads of laundry
5. garbage off the bedroom floor at the foot of the bed (garbage on the treadmill will have to wait)
6. start sewing
7. post about sewing projects--ok, ok, that one will be on tomorrow's list . . .
   

Why don't these exist?

I was rushing through the grocery store this morning, picking up some things for our first homeschool support group meeting (which went fabulously!), and grabbing a few things for home as well--I knew they'd stay cold in the trunk.

When we got to checkout, the four self-checkout lines were busy, and I was in a hurry, so we went to the express self-checkout. It's only supposed to be for 12 items or fewer, but there was no line, and plenty of spots open.

I realized that the reason there were so many spots is that there is only room for two bags for your groceries. I'd take bags off, or not bag stuff at all (using my own bags), and it would hiccup the system. So it wasn't as smooth as I would have hoped.

What I really needed was a cart that would let me scan my groceries and keep a running tally as I put things in it. Maybe with hooks along the side to hold bags, so the items would all be bagged as I went. Then, all I'd have to do when I was finished was go to the front and pay. Wouldn't that be fabulous and efficient?

Challenger Simulation

Last Tuesday, after three months of science ranging from geology to map plotting to phases of the moon, Sarah finally got to go to the Challenger Resource Center in Ohio for a space shuttle simulation.

It was SO COOL. Jeff said that he wishes he'd been able to do that kind of stuff when he was a kid, but I know that he'd love to be able to do it today if he had the chance.

The group was fairly small, so instead of dividing them up into two groups, they tapped some of the teachers who were there for training to share the mission. First, our kids were at Mission Control. They all had different jobs, from Life Support to Communication. Sarah was Navigation.

Halfway through, they switched with the other team, and went into the space shuttle. We even got to go through an "airlock."

Once there, most of Sarah's job was plotting potential landing sites, using longitude & latitude. At the end, though, all eyes were on her, because she was the one landing the shuttle. Let's say that Sarah is not likely to become an air traffic controller as an adult. She didn't react well to the pressure, but after some reassurance from the Mission Commander, she pulled it together and got them down safely. Whew!

After, we rode back down to Earth.

The whole experience was really cool, and well worth the time and effort we all put into preparing her last fall.

Coming soon: more sewing posts!

More Sewing

I managed to get Christmas nightgowns made this year, but only barely in time. As in, I finished sewing, went upstairs to change clothes, and left to go to my Dad's for Christmas Eve. If I hadn't finished them, I would have put them on their doors so they could have changed first thing Christmas morning. Happily, they got to continue the tradition of changing wearing them to bed on Christmas Eve.

I used McCall's 5744 and some snowflake flannel with white bias tape. I thought about adding eyelet lace, but in the interest of time, didn't. I also didn't add the bias tape to the waist, but no one seems to care. These went together in about an hour, although I didn't hem them or turn in the cuffs. I did serge the edges, so they won't ravel, and I'll finish the hems eventually, although I think the girls like that they go all the way to the floor.

Dress Breakdown: Lauren

I said that Sarah's pattern is one I would happily make again and again. Lauren's is not. Lauren's pattern is one that I will happily tear up into little pieces. And burn. Seriously, I've never had a pattern make me cry before.

Lauren chose McCall 5742, and we even got the exact fabric that was on the pattern envelope. I didn't realize it until I was in the store that the fabric is flocked--an off white smooth background with black velvety pattern on it. I've never worked with flocked fabric before, but since I could see it finished on the pattern, I knew it would work and look OK.

As a rule, I read through all the pattern instructions before I make a single cut. Sometimes, I get to a part that I don't understand--I can't visualize it. When that happens, I think to myself, "Once is see it in the fabric, I'll see how it goes together." And that generally does work. It's like a puzzle for me, and once I get the pieces together, I can get them to fit. This dress, not only did I put it together wrong, I couldn't figure out what I'd done that was wrong. This was where the tears came in. Frustration, stress, and being really tired didn't help. So I put it down and went to bed. Even before I went to sleep, I started to realize what the problem was, and the next morning, I carefully took the pieces apart and fixed them. (I'd been worried that I'd need to buy more fabric.)

My goal for this Christmas' dresses was for them to be really well made, well finished. Although I think they look nice enough from a distance, I as more than a little disappointed in the quality of my work. I just think I could have done so much better.

Dress Breakdown: Sarah

For Sarah's dress, she picked Simplicity 3546 and a deep red crepe-backed satin. Looking at the front of the pattern, she wanted the one on the far right down at the bottom.

At first, I thought the fabric looked a little bathrobe-y, but in the end, I liked how it turned out quite a bit. My biggest concern was that I might snag it, so I bought new needles.

I had some trouble with the facings (as usual), and it was a little bulkier/not as sleek as I anticipated, but this is a pattern I will probably make again and again. I'm thinking that by summer, she'll have at least three more of these, probably in cotton, and maybe I'll be able to talk her into the contrast midriff and hem bands.

My sister in law commented that it's a more mature dress, not so much for a little girl, but it's not inappropriate at all.

I'm still alive

Here's why I haven't been posting much/at all lately:

Ready to Roll

This is the view as I left the basement 5 minutes ago (it's time to make lunch). Man, I had forgotten how much fabric I have! Lots of it is "inherited," and I don't know what to do with it. I'm hoping to make lots of totes and storage containers (for CDs, etc.) and use a lot of it up. There is a "shopping night" at our homeschool group meeting next Monday night, so hopefully some of it will sell. I'm also thinking about opening up an Etsy store, although I'm more likely to just give it away for Christmas of whatever.

Projects currently on the table are a mini messenger bag made from the leg of an old pair of jeans, and a grocery-style tote bag. Pictures will go up as things get finished.

Progress

So! The table is cleared off, and I've got some of the stuff out from under it as well. The carpet padding that was on the left is in the garbage pile by the stairs, waiting for Jeff to feel well enough to take it upstairs. The carpet remnants are over on the right, waiting for me to clear enough floor space to lay them out. I still need to get the TV and other assorted large boxes out of the way, and there's a table in another part of the basement that I need to clear off so I can use it to hold my sewing machines and other various items. And the laundry seems to have grown by a fair bit, but at this point, I'm just chucking it in the washer arbitrarily. Oh, and everything needs to be washed down--it's cobwebby and buggy and nasty.

As for the plan to put the tools on the shelves, some of them did make it over there, but most of the small miscellaneous stuff is in paper tote bags on the floor to the left. It's going to be even more difficult to get to those shelves soon, because that open area is going to be for the other big boxes and such.

But I see progress, and even a light at the end of the tunnel. At this rate, I feel confident that I'll be able to start sewing in earnest by Monday. Yay!

Frustration

I'm planning on doing a lot of sewing for Christmas this year. I mean, a LOT of sewing. And I'm really excited about getting started.

I use my dining room table to sew. And therein lies the issue. We use the dining room table for meals, and Jeff uses it in the evenings when he plays his online game. I have room for the sewing machine while he's playing, but it's loud, so it's hard for him to hear, and of course I can't do anything big like lay out fabric. Also, constantly setting up and taking down is tiresome and inefficient.

So a while ago, I decided to make a space in the basement to be a full time sewing area. I knew it would take a while to get stuff cleaned out, but the girls and I started working on it. We made some good progress, but then I ignored it for a week or two, so of course the mess crept back.

I started back on it yesterday, and again we made some progress. We already have a table in a corner of the basement that is right by an outlet and has great light (seriously, this bulb is amazing--it was in the house when we bought it, and it's like looking at the sun, it's so bright).

Here's the problem:
All the crap that is still ON the table. Pay no attention to the laundry--that's where the laundry chute dumps (have I ever mentioned how much I love having a laundry chute? The only thing that would be better would be a dumb waiter, so I could send stuff back up the same way.) so things tend to pile up. But the rest of the stuff . . . I don't even know if that TV works, the ceiling fan doesn't work, and then there's all the tools.

The "plan" was to move all the stuff on and under the table over to a shelf unit on the other side of the basement. Here's the problem with that:

I can't even get to the shelves. Yes, there is a bit of clear floor--that's the progress I made yesterday. Still, it's going to take considerable time to be able to get to the shelves, to clear them off so there is room for the tools, and then to move the tools themselves. I look at the whole thing and get so overwhelmed that I just don't know how to start.

I know, I know. Just start. But it's incredibly frustrating to still be so far from actually being able to get started on what I really want to do, which is sew. It's kind of like driving home from Florida, and you finally hit the Michigan border. You think, "Yes! We're almost home!" And then you drive for two more hours.

I even dreamed about it last night. I dreamed that Jeff went down there and cleaned up. I mean, there were boxes stacked neatly against one wall, but other than that, it was empty. It looked like we had just moved in! And I was so happy, because it meant I could get right to work. When I woke up, it took me a second to realize that it was only a dream.

At this point, I don't even know if I should keep working on it right now, or just cut bait and deal with working on the dining room table. If I did that, I could start right away, but I'd have to deal with making sure everything gets put away all the time and not being able to work whenever I want. If I go full bore on the basement, I might be able to get up and running by Monday.

Yeah, the pull of a dedicated sewing area is just too strong. I'll keep taking pictures and posting about my progress.

School Pictures

#0257

I decided to go vote early, to get it done. Jeff has the day off, so I didn't worry about taking the kids. I got up at 7:22, and was there by about 8:45. As I was getting close, I saw that there were a LOT more cars than usual parked along the street. When I got there, the line came out of the building, and snaked down the sidewalk to the parking lot (our polling station is at a local church).

So I got in line and started moving. Moving slowly, but still moving. Then not moving. I heard someone say that the machine that tabulates the votes wasn't working. So we waited some more. The woman behind me had her daughter with her, and even though she was only five, I was impressed at how patient she was.

Finally, we started moving again--the machine had been fixed. We moved slowly but steadily after that. By the time I got into the building, it was about 9:40. The line then broke in two, splitting the alphabet down the middle. This didn't work as well as I would have thought. My line moved much more slowly than the other; people who were well behind me in line outside ended up voting before I did, which was a little frustrating.

Finally, I got my ballot (I had to point my name out on the list), voted, and got out of there around 10:15. Jeff left when I got home and was back within the hour. Yeah, great idea I had to go early. :)

But now I've voted, and I need to run a couple other errands (and get my free coffee from Starbucks!) before I go to work. Then "my teen" is coming over to work on German, and I'm going to watch the election results. Should be an interesting night!

Happy Halloween!

Health

Of the two girls, Lauren is generally more prone to sickness. She has allergies, so it seems that for at least 6 months of the year, her nose is running almost constantly. When I realize that it's "that time" again, I try to make sure we've got Claritin stocked up so I can give her some every day. But I don't want to give it to her if she doesn't need it, so it can be a fine balancing act.

A few days ago, the runny nose started. The runny nose is usually accompanied by coughing at night--a result of post nasal drip, fairly easily solved by making sure she sleeps sitting up and maybe gets a shot of medicine, if she hasn't already had a dose.

This week seemed no different, until last night. Then, the coughing was much rougher, and she was breathing very fast, very shallow. I thought it might be bronchitis, so I canceled my classes today and made a doctor's appointment.

Nope. Not bronchitis.

We can't be sure until we see how she responds to treatment, but the doc is pretty sure it's asthma. In hindsight, it's obvious--that was classic "wheezing." I was surprised when the doc got her on a nebulizer almost immediately for a breathing treatment, though; that particular possibility hadn't occured to me.

That first treatment helped, but it's only a start. We have a month's rental on a nebulizer, and prescriptions for Prednisone (a steroid to help reduce the inflammation in her lungs) and Abuterol (the stuff that goes in the nebulizer). We're also getting the industrial sized Claritin, because it seems that the key to managing this is the preventive measures: keep the allergies under control, keep sudden cold air out of her lungs, and try to prevent colds as much as possible. Hopefully we won't ever need an inhaler.

Chinese Girls

What a Witch!

Heh.
(happier now?)

Ladies Who Lunch

Yes, these are the people I hang out with. The people I met at the library, no less.

Blame it on the Babysitter

Yeah, it washed out . . .

Flashbacks

Tonight, I went to a dance club for a friend's birthday. It's been forever since I was at a club, and maybe that's why I was having flashbacks all night. Or maybe it was just the music.

When we got an order of fried mushrooms, I flashed back to '86, when my boyfriend and I would get pitchers of beer and fried mushrooms or fried oysters at this little dive bar. Yummmmm.

When they played "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off," I flashed back to '87. I can't stand that song, mostly because one of my friends played it over and over. And over.

When they played Modern English's "Melt with You," I flashed back to '90, and missed my friend Pat more than ever, sniff.

I also flashed back to pretty much ever bar I've ever been in, because I couldn't hear a damn thing anyone was saying to me. God only knows what I was agreeing with . . .

Just Deal

That's my motto right now. That, or "Suck it up and deal." Whaddya think?

Sarah & I were supposed to go on a sleepover with her Girl Scout Troop this weekend. It wasn't an official Scout thing, just a fun get together for us. We were both really looking forward to it. I missed her meeting this week because I was working (Jeff picked her up), so last night I called to get the final scoop on how much it was going to cost and what to bring from the mom who was doing the bulk of the planning. She said, "they didn't call you?" Well, you know good news isn't going to follow that.

Apparently, they canceled it because no one can afford it. She said that the troop leaders were basically talking everyone out of it. She offered to call me, but they said they'd take care of telling everyone. Yeah, except not. I went in to tell Sarah, who was already in bed, and she was really upset.

So I was pissed last night. Not only do they wait until the last minute to cancel, I was completely out of the loop. I feel like this happens because we homeschool, and since Sarah isn't in class with the other girls, I miss out. I'm pretty much over it now; this morning, while I was talking about it with a friend, Sarah overheard me and said, "What's done is done."

I also realized that I need to stop complaining, even to myself, about my job. I'm teaching Windows Vista to senior citizens. It's at three different facilities, and I have to schlep five laptop computers around. Also, I'll be bringing them in the house at night so they don't stay in the trunk overnight. It's a hassle, but you know what? They're paying me really well for these classes. For what I'm getting, I can deal with a fairly small amount of hassle.

I need to remember that I have a lot of good things in my life, and focus more on all those positive things.

Not so crabby

Just busy.

Got the car fixed. It cost $200, which isn't great, but still a lot better than $500.

Had a very nice lunch date with Jeff. We actually talked about things other than the kids!

Got most of Lauren's costume done. Hoping to finish it today and Sarah's tomorrow.

Working tonight.

Crabby

I'm having a crabby week.

Monday was a true Monday. The girls had to have cavities filled, Sarah required nitrous, the bill was about double what I expected, because I forgot about the sealants for Lauren.

On the way to the dentist, the "low coolant" light came on. After skating (which was immediately after the dentist), I took it to the shop. An hour and a half later, the verdict came back: a leak in the intake, which will require $500 to fix. You know, I've loved this car. It was a gift that meant more to me than I can ever say. But I am ready to be done with it and get rid of it. I feel like I'm throwing money down a hole. That said, we'll spend the $$$ again to get it fixed. Again.

Monday afternoon, the kids said that there was water in the basement. We had a lot of rain a couple weeks ago, but anything from the storm drains should have come up then. Ha--it wasn't from the drain, but from the wall. Super. We mopped it up; the silver lining there is that we cleaned up a huge pile of crap from that side of the wall, throwing most of it away. Yay, a large pile of crap gone! There was a little more water yesterday, which I again mopped up, and Sarah says that there is a little more today.

So putting the computer in the basement = maybe not the best idea. However, I'm more committed than ever to cleaning it out, getting rid of ALL the crap, and getting the rest in plastic storage tubs and on shelves. There's still an enormous amount of work to be done, and although Purple Heart just came yesterday, I'm planning on having a lot more for them soon.

Yesterday was somewhat better--we went on a field trip and saw a bald eagle, which was cool. Today is Lauren's first Daisy Girl Scout meeting of the semester, and she's super excited. I'm less excited, because for some reason, I'm going to be a co-leader, so I have to stick around instead of dropping her off.

"Luckily," the Youth German class didn't get enough kids, so it's not running. Too bad about the lack of $, but good on the time that I don't have to spend on it.

There is absolutely nothing on our plate tomorrow, so maybe I can finally get sewing, or at least buy the fabric. Friday, Jeff has the day off work, so we're hoping to go on a date. Hopefully, I'll have a more cheerful post by the weekend!