Make It Happen Mama

No-Good, Very Bad Day

2012-01-30T23:03:00.005-06:00

What's that children's book? About the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day? I had one of those today and, while I am still able to think of good things that I am thankful for today (I believe nosespray went in my Thankfulness Journal this morning, actually), the extent of my awakeness & attention right now is limited to watching Ugly Betty DVDs and knitting. Oh, and taking a quick picture (below) to show you my knitting progress. Other than that, ugh. Just UGH. I want ice cream, but I'm drinking water instead. Emotional sugar eater, what? Yup, that's me. Seriously, though, it's Monday. I should not be crying uncontrollably at work on a Monday. Especially when last week I cried briefly at work on Tuesday, which sort of was my Monday, as I had Monday off. And today's crying didn't even have anything to do with my job, really - it was caused by a very rude postal worker as I was attempting to pick up the mail on my way to the office. Note to cranky postal workers everywhere: You are not the only ones with difficult jobs and menial tasks to complete. Just because you hate your life or whatever doesn't mean that you can take it out on the rest of us. Seriously. I just want to get through a week without crying. Especially since the initial rude-postal-worker-crying turned into a few hours of I-miss-my-husband-and-baby-crying. Just weeping, crazy weeping. Ridiculous.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go knit a few more rows and drink 12 more glasses of water to stave of my sugar cravings.

Knitting by Faith

2012-01-28T23:47:00.004-06:00

I am knitting together stitches of red and white wool that I hope will become part of a hooded scarf, most likely to give to one of my nieces. It's not always clear, however, how such projects will turn out when we begin them. One of the church readerboards on my way to work in the mornings recently stated, "faith is taking the first step when you can't see the entire staircase." So much of what we do, how we move through life, depends on faith - in ourselves, in others, in our previous knowledge, in our professional training, in physical laws, in cultural norms...the list could go on for days. We use the term, "take for granted," but isn't that just another way of saying faith?

I picked up a couple salads and had lunch with my mother at her school yesterday. We ate in the teacher's lounge with several other faculty members and one, a substitute teacher, told us about her experiences having a brain tumor several years back, a condition that not only threatened her life but took her sight away for more than a year due to pressure on her optic nerves (the tumor was located on her frontal lobe, near the corpus collosum, so it pressed down into her eye sockets as it grew). For a time, she saw only a haze - gray out of the right eye, colors out of the left. And then, one day she woke up and saw only darkness. Everything she did became "by faith" - trusting that her house layout would remain the same, believing that the doorknob would be at hip height, knowing that tasks may not look as expected, but they would be completed nonetheless.

I've heard it said that it is by faith we learn how to see. Just as I twist and weave two strands of yarn around my needles and look in awe as a pattern emerges, we learn to follow by faith tasks laid before us and to marvel in the pattern of life that is created. I have told many people, taking this job, making the move back to Oregon, it just felt right. When my husband got a teaching job just before the school year started I wasn't surprised - I had faith we were following a plan laid out for us. It is hard, yes, and sometimes we end up with knots in the yarn and things we perceive as flaws in the resulting patterns, but we are creating something here, and it is turning out to be something pretty darn beautiful.

Photos & Family Musings

2012-01-26T14:04:00.008-06:00

So Angie is getting real excited about her upcoming photo shoot (2/13 - the day before my birthday!) for her new album release. She posted this self-styled photo with the tutu I made on her Facebook page yesterday:

I love it! What do you think? I'm real excited to listen to the rough cut CD Angie gave me last night to listen to, along with lyrics and chord charts for the songs she'd like me to sing back-up and/or play cello on. I'm actually listening to it right now as I type. It's good! I'm honored she has asked me to be part of such a cool project.

On a completely different note, it occurred to me mid-commute yesterday how much less my son will have to rely on his visual memory than I have as far as childhood memories go. Monkey, like most of small people his age, I'm guessing, takes technology for granted. "Let's make a video" is a matter of using daddy's iPhone, mommy's Blackberry, or the FlipCam. Taking pictures is a similar matter. When I was 6, photos were taken for special occasions on clunky cameras with 35mm film. It was a big deal when my mom pulled out her camera, the one her father gave to her when she was a teenager. People used to be lucky to have a photo taken of them at all in their lifetime. Today, we can take hundreds of photos in an hour without much thought or effort. Stop and consider that for a moment. Really. It's momentous.

Check out the photo below:

One of these five men is my great-grandfather, Alfred Causley, known as Alf to his friends. He was my mother's mother's father, a Barr Colonist who homesteaded near Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, in the early 1900s. He worked with the Canadian National Railway as a pumpman for 11 years in North Battleford before being transferred to the Dundurn District. This is how my grandmother and her brother came to be raised in a boxcar home. In 1940, he retired to Saskatoon, where he died in 1949, at the age of 75. This is one of two photographs I've ever seen of my great-grandfather Alf, the other being in an old photo album at my mother's house and picturing Alf, his wife and their two children standing in front of their boxcar home. I love that this photo has some of his friends and the family's personal effects in it, though. Imagine how much more precious those photos must have been when they were so rare and valuable.

My Christmas present to my father this year was a promise that I am going to interview him about his family so that I can write down all the stories that have not yet been told. Especially poignant, I think, since I didn't grow up with him - these stories will be new to me, as well as a gift to my child and his cousins. I want them to know where they come from in a way that my sister and I never knew growing up. I don't begrudge them the conveniences of capturing memories via modern technology - I just hope they take advantage of the opportunity to record their chapters of our family history.

An Unexpected Romantic Gesture

2012-01-23T18:37:00.020-06:00

I feel like such a giant whiner even bringing this up, but it is hard for me to be apart from my husband this year. I am someone who really feels the emotions of others best through physical touch and experiences - a kinesthetic, visual learner by nature. When my husband isn't here, I don't get my fill of hugs and kisses. Regardless of how many "I Love You"s I receive over the phone, via Skype, via text or email, I still miss the hugs and kisses.

We got into a big argument last week. I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say that Snowpacolypse 2012 manage to throw a wrench into our otherwise well-laid plans for spending the weekend together. Hmm, that's a pretty decent little synopsis, actually. You don't really need to read the angry text messages or hear about the heated Skype conversations. So.

I guess one benefit of living apart is the built-in physical buffer (160 miles, in our case) when you need cool-down time. Nearly two days went by as I seethed and he...what? I didn't know. I supposed he was still trapped in Snowpacolypse, but I didn't really think that I cared, at that point. Fighting with my husband really brings out the 5-year-old in me. After working a short day Friday (7 hours), I headed home and began my great scanning/shredding mission in earnest. It was slow going, but it needed to be done. Saturday morning, I woke up and was very excited to have my first *me* day in several months. After running errands for a few hours, I had lunch with a couple of friends, and then headed home again to continue scanning/shredding. Oh, it was a relaxing day!

Sunday began much like Saturday, with scanning/shredding and folding laundry. But then, be still my heart, came the romantic surprise. My husband appeared on my doorstep. He drove five hours roundtrip to spend only a few hours with me. First he scrubbed my bathroom within an inch of its life. Then he shredded the giant stack of papers I had already scanned and took out the paper bags full of shreddings to the recycling bins. We took a great trip to Baja Fresh for spicy sustenance, then watched a chick flick and cuddled on the coach. Perfect mini-date with my husband? Yes. Amazing, romantic surprise? Yes. Pretty much the best way of "showing" me the apology he'd already verbalized? *YES*

I'm all atwitter with romantical feelings!

Too, too pretty, no?

2012-01-22T00:31:00.051-06:00

Brace yourselves, folks: There are going to be a lot of photos on this one! You may remember me mentioning that I seem to be becoming much more of a girly-girl now that I'm out of my twenties. Is that normal? I don't know, but I'm enjoying it. My current obsessions? Cupcakes and tutus, not necessarily in that order. I found this adorable tutorial for making a tutu...

It was so cute, I immediately added it to my Pinterest board, Things I Want to Make. A few weeks later, my dear friend Angie asked me if I wanted to do some back-up vocals and instrumentals on her new album. Um, yeah! I (half-jokingly) said, "Okay, but only if I get to help with the styling for the photo shoot for the album cover..." and then, a moment later, inspiration hit. Oh. My. Gosh. Angie *needs* a tutu for her album photo shoot. NEEDS. Yes!!! So I got started with a repurposed skinny strap nude tank and some light blue tulle...

You'll see that I followed the basic method on the tutorial, but instead of looping the tulle lengths onto a long ribbon, I tied a little knot and then stitched it onto the hem of the tank.

Here's what the tutu looks after the first layer of tulle. I totally made marks at regular intervals around the hem of the tank before I started sewing in order to ensure even layers. I'm definitely a nerd like that :-)

Things started getting a little fancier during the second layer. I interspersed some black dotted mesh within the strips of light blue tulle. I didn't want the whole thing to get too dark or serious, but at the same time, I didn't want Angie to end up looking like a puffy blue cloud.

The third layer saw the addition of some super-long strands or, as Angie called them, "The long pieces for me to step on." Ha! Well, at least it makes things interesting, right?

This is a gratuitous tutu shot, post fluffing and wrapping some lovely little bows in the black mesh up near the top. Don't you just want to pet it??

So Angie came over to try on her tutu. Our friend Dawn came over, as well, and pointed out how much Angie looked like Cartman (from South Park) in her ginormous sunglasses. Ha! Of course, we had to pause for a photo.

And then the tutu went on. Look! Almost unconsciously, Angie morphed into a cutie wanna-be ballerina, complete with rounded arms. Dawn is lurking behind the door there. You can't see her, but she's there.

The next step was for Angie to explore her modeling skills. This look is...I'm not actually sure what this was. But it made me laugh, so I thought you might enjoy it, as well.

Okay, all straightened up now.

Oooh, let's see what's down here!

Testing the spin-a-bility

Aaaaw, like a little princess!

...and finish with a yoga pose!

Doesn't Angie look absolutely serene now that her tutu is complete? Let the album cover photo shoot begin! Want to see what Angie does when she's not modeling tutus? Check out her blog here.

Let me end by saying how happy I am to have move the original tutu tutorial pin to my Things I HAVE Made board on Pinterest :-)

Scan It, Shred It, Repeat

2012-01-20T18:54:00.009-06:00

I have an exciting evening planned. The scanner and I are getting to work making digital copies of a giant box full of records. Then 3 binders and a stack of clear sheet-protectors and I are going to organize, alphabetize, categorize, and label the records from 2009, 2010, and 2011. Then the shredder and I are going to make short work of all the records from 1995-2008. To keep morale high, the computer will independently play a Sex & the City marathon and I will take frequent trips to the kitchen for mineral water refills. Oh yeah, I sure know how to live it up on a Friday night!

When I agreed to serve as Treasurer for a professional organization I am a part of, I had no idea how much *stuff* would come along with that position. No, I'm not talking about the time commitment, the many trips to the bank, or occasional reports to pull together. I'm talking about STUFF - a *giant* box full of paper that arrived a few short weeks after I came on board. Holy fire hazard!

As one of the youngest members of this professional organization, I felt it was my duty to go beyond the basic duties of Treasurer (you know...taking care of the money!) and to digitally organize this mess of records I received in the mail, if for no other reason than to avoid paying $40 to ship the box to the next Treasurer at the end of my term! And yes, I'm being ageist and I'm sorry if that offends you, but in my experience older professionals tend to be far less open to change than those of us who don't remember life before the internet. So anyhow, I got permission to take us digital (or more digital - they did ask me to keep paper records for the past 3-4 years) at our annual meeting last May, but of course haven't made the time to really dive into the project before now.

My original plan was to scan everything and then burn it onto CD-Rs, like one for each year of records. Two copies would be made of these CD-Rs; one would stay with the current Treasurer and the back-up copy would be kept with one of our members, who happens to be an accountant and does our audit every year. Simple, right? Except it still leads to clutter, because every year we add another CD-R. Aargh!

One very pleasant side effect of starting my new job back in July was an opportunity to explore more online storage options, aka *The Cloud*. I love the cloud. It's like having a really, really big purse that you can open up anywhere there's an internet connection. My PC at home? Check! My PC at work? Check! My colleague's Mac in Nebraska? Check! Another colleague's Blackberry in Colorado? Check! It's beautiful, I tell you!

So my current cloud storage of choice is Dropbox. It doesn't allow you a tremendous amount of free storage, but you can "earn" additional space by recommending Dropbox to friends. When they make an account and install the easy-peasy-downloader-thingie, you get more space. Isn't social media beautiful?

I think feeling so unsettled and home-less this year has really made me appreciate cloud storage even more. No matter where I go, there are my files. I actually have two accounts already: one for work and one for home. It's right up there with Facebook or Pinterest, as far as addictability goes, but with far less chance of wasting a ton of time playing on it. Dropbox is utilitarian, and I love it.

You may be interested to know that, in the time it took me to write this post, edit this post, and find cute little illustrations to go along with it, I've already scanned and filed all of 2010 and am now hard at work on 2009. Yay, me! I was actually supposed to be up in Tacoma this weekend, but a freak, massive snowstorm made a safe drive pretty much impossible. So, here I am - at home, alone, with time to work on a big organizational project and maybe even to do some laundry, clean my room, etc. I'll keep you posted on my progress. If you had some unexpected time off - an hour, a day, a weekend, etc. - what major project would you like to take on?

Flurries & Preparations

2012-01-18T20:42:00.006-06:00

[Note: This post was written on Monday morning - and I ended up getting to my office in Portland about 3 hours later than planned :-P]

The drive to the train station this morning was peppered with crunchy snow drifts and slippery ice patches. My husband drove and I enjoyed the view. I love how safe I feel when he drives - it's like I can completely give up control over the vehicle because I know he has our best interests at heart.

So after stopping at Cutters Point coffee shop in downtown Tacoma and watching the sun rise over the bay while taking the first sips of a Red Velvet Frappe (yum!) we finished the last leg of the commute and arrived at the tiny, adorable Tacoma Amtrak Station (not to be confused with the ginormous bus/commuter station just across the street & down a bit). I was one of the first people here which was probably a bit of overplanning on my part, as the train has already been announced as delayed 20, 25, 30, and now 50 minutes in arrival. This is an example of how the Pacific Northwest is not prepared for cold weather, I suppose: the switches on our trains don't have heaters built in as they do in other parts of the country. Bust my buffers!

It makes me think about an old joke we had when I rowed crew in college, though: hurry up & wait. Rush, rush, rush so you can sit, sit, sit. It's all a matter of preparation. Really, though, isn't that what life is? A series of preparations? Education is a preparation for working as an adult. Dating is a preparation for marriage. Eating is a preparation for burning calories. Sleeping is a preparation for staying awake tomorrow. Antecedent, consequences, antecedent, consequences, as regular as train wheels clicking down the tracks - once they're defrosted, of course.

My word this year is *intention*, which to me is an integral part of preparation. It doesn't change what you do, so much, as being aware of *why* you're doing it. I'm sitting here in this train station with the intention of returning to Portland so I can put in a good week's work and spend another full weekend, guilt-free, with my family. I am preparing to return to my home, which is with my boys.

Can you believe I left this comfy little workspace behind?

Snooooooow Daaaaaaay!!!

2012-01-17T20:41:00.014-06:00

[Note: This post was written on Sunday morning]

What is it about snow? The sheer joy and excitement of the world covered in a beautiful white blanket of cold, fluffy, icy flakes - it's irresistible! My sweet baby is outside having a snowball fight with my bigger boy right now. Apparently, 33 is not too old to wage a backyard battle with your offspring. As for me, I'm watching the Golden Girls on TV and the snow falling through the window. My amazing mother-in-law made big, fluffy pancakes and garnished them with blueberries for breakfast. I can neither confirm nor deny inhaling four of them in quick succession. There's now a homemade pot of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove in preparation for tonight's dinner. Mmmm...there are definite gastric advantages to having three generations living under one roof.

My dear husband is getting restless now. He's definitely the get-out-and-do-something person at our house and bad weather seems to just magnify these desires. Me? I'm more of a homebody. If I had my sewing machine up here with me this weekend and a stash of fabric, I'd be happy to sit by the window and sew until bedtime. Yup. Now *that* sounds like a wonderful snow day to me!

Marriage is all about compromise, though, right? So I will choose to enjoy my husband's restless-in-bad-weather side and get myself bundled up for a little trip to...who knows? Movies? Bowling? Last year we braved an ice storm in Dallas to go to a local mall and walk around for a couple hours. Getting there was a bit nail-biting, for me, but we did have a grand time once we arrived safely. It's rare to be in a mall in DFW with the corridors & stores nearly empty - glorious!

It does make me thankful, though, that we live in a part of the country that rarely gets snow. I'm not sure I could stand a few solid months of restless husband syndrome every day, LOL

Sound Check? Check!

2012-01-14T23:25:00.006-06:00

Our visit with the audiologist went well yesterday. Every time we go to have Monkey's hearing tested, I realize I don't know what to call the audiologist. Dr. So-and-So? Are they doctors? Probably a dumb question, I know, and something I swear I'm going to look up every time we go there. But of course I don't and a year or two later I end up on my way to another appointment with Monkey, walking in the door and realizing I still have no idea what to call the audiologist. Classy.

Our appointment was at an office that mostly serves adults. Monkey did his best to behave but, you know, he's 6, and a two hour appointment is a long time for his little brain to focus and his little body to sit still. He did his best, though, and so did I. I was silent and helpful in the little soundproof room, handing Monkey brightly colored pegs as the audiologist signaled me and keeping my emotions under control. Sounds crazy, right? Getting emotional in the soundproof room? But you have to understand what it's like, sitting and watching your child being tested, watching him not hearing things that are audible to you, feeling the sting of not knowing, not ever having the slightest hope of knowing *WHY* your baby was born with this disability, never knowing if it was something you did wrong or a freak genetic mutation or what, only knowing that there's nothing you can do about it, that you're helpless to help your baby do something that you used to take for granted every second of every day: hear.

It hurts, but it gets easier. This is the first time I didn't cry before, during, or after the hearing test.

The results of the testing yesterday were right in line with the previous results, taken three years ago for the right ear and two years ago for the left ear, the latter having been retested following surgical insertion of a tympanic membrane tube to deal with recurring ear infections throughout infant/toddlerhood. Now that Monkey is 6 ("I'm 6-and-a-HALF, mommy!"), we can be fairly confident that the results of the tests are accurate and reliable. Plus, while his right ("little") ear still shows a moderate hearing impairment (not a surprise, as he still lacks an open ear canal on that side, a condition identified as aural atresia) tests done via bone conduction indicate that Monkey's inner ear is in perfect working condition - which takes him one step closer to being a candidate for constructive surgery and/or implantation of a post to attach a bone-conducted hearing aid.

As my husband keeps reminding me (thank you, dear!), this is the year of gathering information. Still, it's hard not to react emotionally to information about my baby's ears, whether it is good or bad. Right now, I have a mommy rush of excitement in the pit of my stomach, a feeling of relief and joy that, for the moment, the path is smooth for my sweet boy, for us as a family. I'm not naieve enough to think that the entire journey will be this way but, for now, I'm savoring the moment.

Next stop? Appointment #2 will be next week with a local ENT, whose job will most likely be to review the file, ask a few questions, and refer us to a specialist. Dot your Is, cross your Ts, and follow the steps the insurance company wants you to take. We're gathering information.

A Ride in the Dark

2012-01-13T10:50:00.005-06:00

[Note: This post was written last night, but I was too exhausted by the time I got home to get it uploaded - sorry!]

I'm writing this on my Blackberry while sitting on an Amtrak train, somewhere between Portland and Tacoma. Part of making the long-distance living arrangement work this year involves keeping our travel budget minimized, and with train tickets coming in at slightly less than a tank of gas, it makes sense for at least one weekend commute per month to be done via train. Not putting 300 miles (round trip) on one of the vehicles is icing on the cake, in that regard. It does require advance planning and minimized flexibility in schedule changes, but nothing terribly vexing.

True stories I'm learning on my first train commute: You get about four times the personal space on a train as you do on an airplane. There are power outlets provided if you want to work on a laptop or watch a movie. Most of the seats are on the top layer of the train so you get a nice scenic view (right now, it's pitch black outside, but I have gotten some interesting glimpses into people's house windows when we roll through the little towns!). Do I sound like a commercial yet? I also like the slightly burny smell that happens when they throw the brakes at the stations. Hmm...that last statement looks weirder written down than it sounded in my head...oh well!

Monkey has the day of school tomorrow ("bad weather" day built into the school year) so we will be spending the morning together. At 12:00, we will head over to Daddy's school and pick him up so the three of us can visit an audiologist, the first ear-related doctor we've seen since moving this summer. This visit marks a new season in Monkey's life, really in our family. We are beginning the process of seriously gathering information about the possibility of Monkey undergoing a series of surgeries for his "little ear" - more on that later, I promise. For now, let me just say that this train ride I am taking tonight, hurtling through the dark on a path unknown, with someone else behind the throttle, is symbolic of the journey we are beginning with our Monkey. I can only pray that God continues to show us where to take the precious child he has entrusted to us.

Change Your Life, Change Your Style

2012-01-11T22:29:00.017-06:00

My wardrobe is undergoing an unexpected transformation currently. While it has taken me somewhat by surprise, I can't honestly say that I completely dislike the process. It makes sense, I suppose: I turned 30 at the beginning of 2011 and moved 2,102 miles/2 time zones/about a gazillion light years as far as weather conditions and local style go. Dallas, Texas does not mesh well with Portland, Oregon, and fashion is just the tip of the iceberg! So pair those major changes with moving from being a contract board-certified music therapist to a manager of a major agency in my chosen profession - which can be tricky considering I am new to town and younger than most of the contractors I manage, most of the professionals from agencies we contract with, and even most of our clients. Yup. Time for a change.

So what does that mean for my personal style (or lack thereof)? Well, some things will never change: my number one concern was, is, and always will be comfort. I can't focus entirely on work if my feet hurt or my waistband is pinching, if I have to constantly pull up my top or tug down my skirt. Also, it's cold here. Like *cold* - SERIOUSLY! And yes, I know that all of you in the Midwest, East Coast, and everywhere North of me are snickering right now, but you have to remember that I've been enjoying (okay, sweltering in) triple-digit temperature for quite a few years now and my inner Oregonian has perhaps been sweated out. Brrrrr!

So my closet, once full of Bermuda shorts, capri pants, cap-sleeve blouses, sandals, and sundresses is suddenly becoming a haven for ankle-length leggings, long-sleeve layering tees, heavy wool sweaters, maxi skirts, jersey skirts, slacks, flats, long scarves, and wooly mittens. Did I mention I'm freezing? And that I bought *two* wool jackets back in the Fall? It's certainly a change from the past few years of hot flashes and dripping sweat rivulets! But I don't want to be boring, you know? I need inspiration and to find the perfect way to make Professional Emily look as smart as we know she is, but still keep Personal Emily warm and comfortable until it's time to go home and change back into my normal clothes (aka sweats & an old tee of my husband). My INTENTION is to look like a grown up and to feel like me. Point me in the right direction, people! I need help!

See? I have skirts! Warm, comfortable, made-by-me skirts!

Subtract the baby bump and the necklace and this could be me on a typical day. Note: This isn't me, though! Thanks for pointing out that I was unclear there, Rachel :-)

Ooooh...black flats...I love them all!

Yes, please!

This is not me - but I would wear this! Just add something warm over that tee

...and, finally, the ubiquitous comfy Portland scarf

The Medicine I Really Needed

2012-01-08T22:48:00.010-06:00

So I thought I knew what I needed to recuperate fully from the great plague of December/January: antibiotics, vitamins to build my immune system, avoiding human contact, lots of yogurt & leafy greens, and plenty of rest (thanks for the advice, doc!). Turns out she forgot to add a few things to the list, though. Thursday night, I was wrestling with whether I should drive up to Tacoma as planned this weekend or not. Besides my nephew's birthday party on Saturday, my Monkey has been in serious Mommy withdrawal this week and I'd promised to make the trip up. My husband was also hoping to spend some time with me. Let's be honest, though: driving about 300 miles roundtrip in less than 3 days is not exactly "taking it easy," so I wasn't sure if I should stay in Portland and rest up or get in the car and go. I finally decided to go, against my better judgment, because I didn't want to disappoint any of the 3 aforementioned guys.

Turns out I made the right choice. Yes, I did spend about 3 hours driving on Friday and another 3 hours driving today, but in exchange I got 10+ hours of perfectly restful sleep on Friday AND Saturday nights (amazing how much better you sleep in your own bed with your husband next to you, isn't it?), as well as...

A lovely pre-party walk with Monkey, my sister, and her 3 kids in the "wilds" of Seattle.

To help my husband put together the bike Monkey got for Christmas (complete with tiny, adorable training wheels) and to watch Monkey take his first ride on a beautiful, sunny, Sunday afternoon in Tacoma. You can't use those adjectives often, this time of year!

Look at those blue skies!

One of my mountains, Rainier, popped out to say hi when I was heading back to I-5.

Mt. Saint Helens also was visible as I headed South for Portland. Unfortunately, the bright blue skies turned to crazy-heavy fog around Exit 45, so by the time I crossed the bridge into Oregon I could barely see the car in front of me, let alone Mt. Hood!

Plus my wonderful mother-in-law sent me home with chocolate cupcakes, which I had been craving aaaaaaaallllll week! Yummy!!! I definitely had more than enough ideas for my Thankfulness Journal this weekend :-)

A Birthday Trio for Boy Boy

2012-01-05T23:54:00.023-06:00

It all started with a mustache...

Well, a mustache pattern...

Well, the plaid pants and the glasses led to the idea for the mustache...

Maybe I should just start at the beginning...

Our nephew, Boy Boy, is celebrating his 6th birthday this weekend. Since he's all about animals right now, I decided it would be fun to make him some squishy playmates. After browsing around online (thanks, google images!) I settled on a chunky, bear-like creature, complete with little ears and arms. This is the pattern I made out of two pieces of 8.5" x 11" paper.

After cutting out two creature outlines from some leftover creamish burlap, I thought about what I wanted this little guy to look like. Awesome glasses were a must (my brother-in-law rocks some cool specs, as do my husband and I) and, since they live in a Seattle suburb, maybe some hipster plaid pants? Good thing I had scraps from Monkey's first kilt sitting around. The glasses were cut from a scrap from the apron I made last year. A few facial features, ear insides...looks like a little creature!

Look, it's Mr. Smartypants! I didn't do anything fancy to attach the detail pieces, just zig-zag stitching around the edges. The pants are on the front and the back of him - I don't want to give a 6-year-old a creature to moon people with, after all!

My dad was terribly amused when I showed him Mr. Smartypants and I shared with him my plans to make two more creatures (a group is always more fun, right? Plus Boy Boy has two sisters and may be called upon to share...). We brainstormed for a little while and dad came up with the coolest idea! We just needed a mustache...a comb over...some tight red pants...

...and, voila! GianCarlo Orlando was born! Make sure you pronounce it "zhawn-CAR-lo or-LAWN-do" - named by my Swiss father, of course. If his mustache looks familiar, it's because it was made from the pattern that I'm rocking in the first picture above ;-)

So we had two, one designed by me, one by dad, and absolutely no clue what to do for the third one! We kicked around quite a few ideas, but it wasn't until I made an impromptu trip to a fabric store for stuffing and happened to see some suede on super-sale that I came up with the perfect idea.

Virginia Hula-Hoop, as dad decided she should be named. Doesn't she just look like a chubby bundle of joy? Now, just when you thought this fun little project couldn't get any better, I had the great idea that my dad should write a cute little story to introduce Boy Boy to his new playmates. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did :-)

Virginia Hula-Hoop, GianCarlo Orlando and Smarty Pants are a team of youngsters. They like each other and are dedicated to making other people feel good.They have been friends for a very long time, almost a lifetime. They first met in Kindergarten. They spend a lot of time together.

GianCarlo was born in Orlando, Florida. His parents had come from Italy and moved to Florida when they were very young. His dad was a truck driver. He drove his truck all over the United States. On one trip he drove through the Pacific Northwest. He liked it very much. When he returned from this trip, he said to his wife: Cara Mia, I have seen the most beautiful place. I think we should take GianCarlo Orlando and move there. Cara Mia liked that idea. They packed up their belongings and moved to the Pacific Northwest with GianCarlo. GianCarlo was only a baby at the time.

Smarty Pants is the son of a college professor and a lawyer. He loves to read and solve mathematical problems. That's why he knows many things and is very smart. He also smiles a lot and is always friendly to other people. He mows the lawn for an elderly woman and runs errands for his mum.

Virginia Hula-Hoop was born in Hawaii. Not far from their house there was a big volcano. Sometimes it had hot lava flowing down the mountainside and into the sea. At night it was glowing red-hot. That looked very beautiful. Virginia loved to sit in the back yard in the evenings with her parents and watch the glowing lava.Her dad was very athletic. He taught Virginia the Hula-Hoop. One day he got a letter from Washington State. They wanted him to come there and teach people how to grow strong and healthy. The family decided to move there just before Virginia started Kindergarten.

Virginia Hula-Hoop, GianCarlo Orlando and Smarty Pants are very excited to meet their new friend, Boy Boy, and his family! Please feed them lots of cupcakes, give them smiles and hugs when you see them, and make sure they brush their teeth before bed.

Angie Has Much More Energy Than Me

2012-01-05T02:46:00.004-06:00

Okay, I've done it. I finished the dress upcycle on my $2 knit jumper from Value Village. And after two days of napping and telecommuting and sewing (with a little eating and antibiotic-swallowing thrown in there) there is absolutely no way I'm going to upload & edit & post & label all the pictures tonight. Plus, I'm going to have to wait until I wear it for someone at work to take a photo of me modeling it so...I guess I'm going to leave you with a teaser!

If you're in the mood for some good reading tonight, may I suggest that you check out my lovely friend Angie's new blog, Every Other Day? Angie is beautiful, talented, smart, funny, athletic, and...surprisingly single! She actually broke up with her boyfriend just a week ago or so and decided the best way to rebound with good spirits was to date as much as possible, like every other day or so. And so, Every Other Day was born, in which Angie will attempt to go on a date and write about the good, the bad, and the unwashed (we're in Portland, remember?) for all of us to read about. This experiment will continue until Angie ends up married, kidnapped, or she just can't stand all of the drama anymore. Seriously, drama. One of the guys she dated is sending her incessant love-letter emails! Yikes!

Check it out, let me know what you think. Personally, I'm enjoying the vicarious thrill of dating wildly like a young person again. Date on, Angie!

See? Cute, right? No wonder the dates are lining up for this social experiment...

Can a Care Package Include Tulle? Please?

2012-01-03T18:16:00.008-06:00

So today has been an interesting day. I've taken three 5-hour naps over the last 24 hours so, while I'm not feeling fully rested (or on any kind of normal sleep schedule), I am awake and functional enough to get some report editing done for work. Last week was billing, this week is report editing/delivering to our clients - thank goodness some of this work can be done from home with a reliable internet connection! I also tried Skyping in to the office this afternoon so I could follow along with one of my coworkers meeting with our interns - that did not go as well. One of the drawbacks of having your offices housed in an historic (100+ years old) building is that the internet connections are not amazing. Plus, since it's a community space, we currently share bandwidth with any Tom, Dick, or Harry who's logged on with his laptop somewhere in the building. Not an ideal internet situation!

I talked to my boss via telephone earlier today and she reminded me to take it easy, even though I will no doubt begin to feel "restless" as my symptoms subside over the next 24-48 hours. It's amazing to have someone already know you so well after less than 6 months with a company, I tell you what! I am feeling a little restless, already, but not so much physically as creatively. My sleep is restless (due to the cough) and I wake up with my brain overflowing with cotton and thread and jersey knits and tulle...oh, the tulle. There is a plain, blue-gray, $2 from Value Village jersey knit jumper hanging on the hook outside my closet. It has been hanging there for several days and it is *mocking* me. Come on, Emily...upcycle me! I have a plan. It involves black sleeves, bringing up the neckline in the same black jersey, and then wrapping the whole thing in layers and braids of black tulle. Yes, that's right, tulle for everyday. I have a dream! Unfortunately, I have no tulle.

What do you think are the odds of someone bringing me a care package, like, now? With maybe some chicken soup, a DVD I haven't watched, and...tulle?

What a Start, Eh?

2012-01-03T03:47:00.003-06:00

I have been sick since December 10. In case you don't have a calendar handy, that's 24 days of my own mini-plague. I first headed to the doctor on Day 9 and was diagnosed with viral bronchitis. Yay for no antibiotics but, at the same time, boo for viruses that can linger. They did hook me up with some codeine cough syrup, which helped a little with the night time hacking - talk about a controlled substance! I had to sign five release forms to get that stuff!

I won't bore you by recounting the waxing and waning of symptoms over the past 15 days, but suffice it to say that by this morning I decided I couldn't wait until my doctor's office reopened tomorrow and headed to Urgent Care. A few hours later, my concerns were confirmed. Or, as the doctor on call put it, I have "definitely earned some antibiotics!" Both ears infected, a raging case of strep, and of course the chest congestion from the lingering bronchitis. The good news? Chest x-ray showed no pneumonia. And, let's be honest, x-rays are always kind of fun, right?

The real kicker: 24 hours on antibiotics (doses 4 times a day for 10 days) before I'm not contagious, and then "avoid human contact" for at least a week. Apparently, you people are making me sick. Well, probably not you personally, more like the people I've been sharing air with. Definitely makes the work week a little...challenging, but I'll do my best. My INTENTION for this week is to give my body the time and supplies it needs to heal. I'm going to take care of me. Lots of rest, leafy greens, vitamin C like crazy, and probably some time spent reading lovely blogs, a good book or two, and maybe a little sewing. There are worse ways to start a new year!

Ten Favorite Things from 2011

2011-12-31T17:06:00.028-06:00

It's New Year's Eve! I'm sitting here enjoying the silence in the house (my sister's family left about an hour ago and my parents are out grocery shopping) and talking to my dear husband over the phone. It's amazing how much noise five adults and three children can make in 24 hours! We had a super-fun visit, though, and I'm happy to say that the kiddos and I definitely flexed our creative muscles this morning, creating a "pond" for the little green beanbag frog my nephew dug out of my boxes of work supplies. I did remember to take a few pictures of the project in progress and finished, but those will have to wait until next year (eek!), as right now it's time for my second annual Ten Favorite Things list for the year! You may remember from last year that I choose to list these things in no particular order of importance or favorite-ness.

1. Pinterest, definitely my favorite new web site of 2011. How did we live before Pinterest?!? You may recall that last year the first thing I listed was Dancer Kilts, a web site about Scottish Highland Dance tartans that I researched and designed? Well, brace yourself: Pinterest has completely revolutionized my methods of organization for this site! Look me up if you're on there already - drop me an email if you want an invitation to join Pinterest!

2. My sewing machine, a Singer 2932, was actually purchased a couple of years ago, but I feel like our relationship really came into its own in 2011. Part of it has been my skills on the machine catching up to my hand-sewing skills, part of it has been the inspiration to sew more (especially clothes for myself up here in the "frozen North"), and part of it has been having my own room, with the freedom to leave a project out until I have a chance to finish it, rather than having to put away all of my sewing things at the end of the day in the interest of keeping our shared space functional. I'm definitely looking forward to more sewing in 2012!

t-shirt skirt

3. Leggings have become an integral part of my wardrobe up here in Oregon. It definitely helped with making my Texas (read: warm weather-appropriate) dresses work in the fall and has inspired much layering and sewing of layer-able clothing. And they're sooo comfortable, to boot!

I do not look nearly this cute in my leggings :-)

4. Most of you probably don't know that I gave in and traded in my dying, 3-year-old cell phone for my first smart phone back in May. As I predicted, my Blackberry Torch (or Cracky, as I like to call it) has revolutionized my life, but not in the negative ways I was concerned about. It has been especially useful for work and it's nice to have a reliable way to contact my husband and son 24/7. Plus, the combination touch screen and slide-out keyboard is *perfect* for me!

5. A cross-country road trip again made the list this year! Whereas last year's road trip was unexpected, unplanned, and involved driving from Texas to Oregon and back again in barely more than a week, this year's one-way trip was part of our move from Texas to Oregon & Washington. Also, this year, my dear husband did 100% of the driving - impressive!

Heading West

6. One of the best things about being in the Pacific Northwest right now is that I can see my *mountains* almost every day! Weather permitting, of course ;-) Mt. Hood makes me feel right at home here in Portland, while Mt. Rainier brings back memories of college when I'm in Tacoma with the boys.

Mt. Hood over downtown Portland - swoon!

7. Dates with my husband have taken on a new significance in the last six months of 2011, since we're living in different states again. I have two favorites: first, in October, when I was able to surprise him with a trip to Oktoberfest at Oaks Amusement Park (classic Portland!) and then, just this month, when we had a romantic anniversary dinner for three (Monkey on board!) at The Old Spaghetti Factory, another Portland institution. Love it!

The Ferris wheel at Oaks Amusement Park

8. You probably already know about my love for all things laminated (not only do they last, you can *sanitize* them! Very important when you work with kiddos), but did you know that this year my mother-in-law gifted my husband with a personal laminator? Being an elementary school teacher, he also knows the value of laminating materials and was spending a pretty penny most weekends at our local Kinkos. I helped my MIL order the YourStory 375100 Book Binder and Laminator via Amazon on Cyber Monday and scored not only free shipping, but also a half price deal, which led to her ordering TWO laminators - one to keep in Tacoma and one to keep in Portland! I will help my husband by using the Portland one enough that it stays in working condition, of course ;-)

9. My new job was definitely worth moving for, even if it means we had to leave our beloved Texas. The work feels right to me - meaningful, enjoyable, and I seem to be good at it. If it hadn't involved a 1/3 cut in my pay, compared to what I was making in Texas, I would deem this the perfect job!

This is what office supplies look like where I work

10. The opportunity to live with my dad and my step-mom, with whom I never lived as a child. My parents got divorced when I was 5. Who would have thought, at the ripe old age of 30, I would have a "second chance", of sorts, to experience a home life with my dad and step-mom? I am blessed beyond measure that they have welcomed me into their home as a renter-daughter-squatter, as well as my boys when they come to visit. Every day I learn more about these two amazing people and our relationships continue to grow and deepen. How lucky am I?

Did I mention my dad is also an amazing chef?

What people/places/things/ideas really stand out to you from 2011?

Some Bodies are Sleeping in MY Bed

2011-12-30T23:48:00.005-06:00

Well, not in MY bed, so much as my sleeper sofa, the sleeper sofa in the other daylight basement room, and even the little loveseat in there (that's how to tuck away a teeny-tiny, 3-year-old niece). That's right, my sister and her family are spending the night tonight, in visiting from Seattle! We enjoyed some take-out Thai with our Dad for dinner, played with the kiddos for a while, then had some great grown-up conversation time after they were down for the count. I couldn't risk taking a photo of them sleeping, in case the flash woke them up, so you'll just have to imagine the 3-year-old spooning with her 7-year-old sister - precious! Remind me of moments like these the next time I'm whining about being homesick for Texas, okay?

Many bloggers whom I follow have been posting about the upcoming New Year's weekend, of course, as well as their goals and resolutions for 2012. Several mentioned finding key words or phrases by which to shape the start of the new year. I have been ruminating on this for a few weeks, not willing to settle on simply "lose weight" or even "take better care of myself" - though those are immediately applicable objectives after this stressful, sick-filled year of 2011. I want to think bigger picture. The word with which I choose to approach 2012 is INTENTION.

photo credit

That's all I'm saying about it for now. Still needs a few more days to rattle around my brain before any goals and objectives come out (why yes, I AM a behavioral scientist by trade, however did you know?!? LOL). In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy a happy, healthy, safe yet exciting New Year's Eve celebration with people you love this weekend. One more day to end 2011 right!

A Quick Post About a Quick Project

2011-12-29T21:20:00.009-06:00

All of my friends who are giving birth this year seem to be creating boys. While I'm a big fan of boys (let's be honest, being a boy mom is AWESOME!), I haven't had any cause to sew ruffles on baby clothes at ALL this year. Okay, yes, so I'm being slightly melodramatic, but let's be honest: while boys are super-fun to raise, girl clothes are generally more interesting to create. There! You know my gender biases now!

Anyhow, this week I was inspired to try a no-fastener baby shirt for one of my colleagues' newish (born around Thanksgiving) baby boy. Since his daddy has a good, Scottish surname and I have loads of Highland dance-related remnants, I decided to give it a shot using a lovely, soft, white jersey knit for the shirt and with tartan, woolen trim. What do you think?

The deep v-neck on the front ensures that you can pull the shirt over McBaby's head without any kind of fasteners required. Since he's not quite old enough for his first kilt, this McShirt will have to keep him tartan-happy for a few months.

I found a free pattern for a lovely no button shirt in size 3-6 months on Suzy's site, voor nop (originally in Dutch). Suzy has many more free patterns posted for simple baby clothes, as well. You can see an overview here. This was a great, simple project, that only took a few hours from pattern pinning to finishing the last hems. I can't wait to see how it looks on little McBaby!

Christmas Aprons for the Nieces & Nephew

2011-12-27T21:00:00.024-06:00

So, good news: I have officially completed all birthday presents for my sister's 3 kiddos for 2012 - yes! The bad news is that I can't share pictures with you until the gifts have been given. However, seeing as how their birthdays are in January, March, and May, you don't have all that long to wait. In the meantime, how would you like to see the Christmas presents Monkey Boy and I made for them?

I wanted to make something simple, something we could make for both the 2 nieces and the nephew, something useful, and something that Monkey could help me design & execute. The answer? Personalized aprons, perfect for crafting or cooking! Plus, they're reversible, so different moods can be accompanied by a totally different apron look. Here is Monkey modeling Z's (and in case you're curious, that's what my room looks like after a weekend of Monkey visiting). One side of her apron features white flowers on a purple satin background, cut from upcycled pajama pants!

Next, Monkey grins as he shows off cousin J's apron - very appropriate color choices for a boy, yes? I can't take credit for that, it was all Monkey. Did you notice I hadn't sewn the bottom seam yet?

Finally, there is little E's apron. Since she's the youngest and the smallest (almost 4), we decided to make her apron a little mini compared to the others, so it won't overwhelm her in length. Monkey chose navy twill for this side, with a pretty sky blue for the monogram. See that half-mangled Safeway bag next to Monkey in the photo? You may have missed it, perhaps distracted by his Zoolander pose...anyhow, that bag is not mere clutter or recycling gone awry! We use a paper grocery sack to create the pattern for the aprons. Monkey also cut out a rectangle from a grocery sack to use as a template for the pockets. Finally, I showed him how to make block letters and he then drew large ones onto a grocery sack, which I was able to cut out, flip over and trace onto the material Monkey selected to put his cousins' initials on their aprons. Always good to label semi-matching gifts for families with multiple children, right?

I couldn't keep Monkey still enough to get modeled photos of the finished products, but here are some flat pictures so you can see how they turned out. I used various colors of thick ribbon, hanging out in my sewing box from previous projects, to make a large loop at the top of each apron and two tie straps on the sides. Originally, I was going to make them with velcro ties, but figured the ribbons would keep them adjustable as the kids grew.

I'm happy to report that the aprons were a hit, as well as amused to report that once my sister put the packages under the tree, the kiddos were so excited that they harassed her continuously until she finally gave in and let them open the aprons about a week before Christmas. Hilarious!

Want some more inspiration for making child-sized aprons?

I loved the Montessori By Hand original pattern for the Montessori Child's Apron. Meg at sew liberated posts all kinds of amazing patterns, so make sure to bookmark her blog!

How about the Classic Reversible Apron prepared by Joanna Armour at Stardust Shoes? Joanna has beautiful pictures on her blog and I love that she posts about the winter doldrums that are so easy to get here in the Pacific Northwest.

For something in an adult size, try the Simple Apron Tutorial, posted by Cindy at Skip To My Lou. Although she looks waaay too young to have three kids, the oldest of which is 17(!), Cindy posts wonderful craft tutorials and ideas for special celebrations.

Happy crafting! Please link up pictures if you make some aprons of your own - I'd love to see them!

Four Corners, One God

2011-12-25T11:28:00.010-06:00

Christmas, to me, has always been about the music. Well, church in general. God is in the music, as far as I'm concerned, in the music and in nature. So to find God within a beautiful church or cathedral, I have to find Him through the music.

Have you heard the Quempas Carol? When I think of Christmas music, this is the carol that best shows me God, the carol that we grew up singing every year.

This example is the original version, by Michael Praetorius, in Latin. We grew up singing this carol in English, however, a version arranged by David Cherwien and published by MorningStar Music. Try listening and reading this translation, simultaneously:

He whom shepherds once came praising,
Awed by heavenly light ablazing,
Cheered by angel news amazing:
"King of glory, Christ is born!"

These four stanzas were sung by the children's choir. We would be split into four groups and post at the four corners of our big, beautiful sanctuary. Wearing our musty blue robes, carrying lit candles and a little strip of paper with the words of all three verses of our stanza on it, we turned to the congregation and sang. The organ accompanied us from the choir loft. The four corners were lit up with our young voices, with the words of good news, with our energy, with the face of God shining through us. Christmas is about a baby, a young child, and here we were, reminding the congregation of that through our youth.

The adult choir took over on the next part:

The glorious angels came today,
Aglow with light into the night of darkness deep,

And the entire congregation would join in, shaking the soaring ceiling beams (or so it seemed to an 8-year-old me), with:

God's own Son is born a child, is born a child;
God the Father is reconciled, is reconciled!

While the adults sang, it was our job to process, slowly, in a clockwise fashion, to the next corner of the sanctuary. The side-to-side shift was fairly straightforward. At the front of the sanctuary, try not to giggle. At the back of the sanctuary, exit the door into the vestibule, giggle as you dashed across, then compose yourself before entering the door on the other side, back into the sanctuary. The back-to-front/front-to-back legs were a little more treacherous, however. Remember those lit candles? Not only did you have to process steadily, yet decorously, it was also important to protect that little flame from drafts so that your candle would still illuminate your face (and your strip of paper) at the next corner. That, and the walk was about three times as long lengthwise in the sanctuary. Phew!

We would sing the second verse, one stanza from each group of children at the four corners of the church, and then it was off again, on the slowest race in the world, to the next corner, meant to represent a corner of the world as a whole. Keeping our eyes on our candle flames, trying to look serious, trying not to trip over our own feet, and keep one eye fixed on the group across the church from us, making sure that we were all moving at more or less the same pace. It took all of our childlike focus to do this properly, but it was important. It still is important, to me. This is how I found God, as a child. This is how I connect with Him, this is a large part of our relationship. The devil may be in the details, but God is in the music. Soli deo gloria.

Christmas/Birthday Memories Past

2011-12-22T21:09:00.007-06:00

I was looking through some old photos this evening and happened upon a pictures of my husband and Monkey Boy back when he was teeny-tiny. Well, teeny-tiny for him (you remember that he was nearly 11 lbs at birth, right?). They were posed in front of a Christmas tree and my husband still wore his wedding ring (that lasted about 6 weeks after we got married...but that's a story for another day!). It got me thinking about what other memories of Christmas past might be lurking in this photo box. Remember, back in the days before digital cameras, when photos were nearly always posed and most often seemed to happen on special occasions? I came upon a few good ones my first time through, most with me and my older sister, my first friend, my lifelong confidant, my battle partner, my fellow witness to both the joys and atrocities of our childhood. We are adults now, both in our 30s, both married, both mothers (though she has 3 children to my 1!) - our friendship is different than it was when we were children, but our love, if anything, has only grown stronger.

She is 26 months older than me and her birthday is right before Christmas. It's today, actually - December 22nd. Since my birthday is on Valentine's Day, I grew up thinking that everyone had their birthday on or just before a holiday. How sad, I thought, not to have what seemed like the whole world celebrate with you. That's me on the left there, above, posing for a picture with our brand-new dolls after my sister's birthday party. I wasn't really into dolls, honestly, babies have always been more her department, but I wanted whatever she had so I could be just like her. Much to her chagrin, of course, especially as we grew older.

These are Christmas-time photos as well, believe it or not. When we first moved to the US, my father had a job in the coastal Oregon town of Lincoln City and our house was right on the beach. Here, my sister and I are taking our bears "sledding" in the "snow" in our backyard - we had just moved from Switzerland, I guess old habits are hard to break?

One of our parents somehow got us to pause long enough to pose for this second photo, although, apparently, my sister was really worried about her panda bear. This is probably about a year before my parents split up, definitely before I knew there was anything wrong. I thought it was normal for parents to yell in the kitchen after you were tucked into bed at night, what seemed like every night. My strongest memories of this age are the living room of this house, legs/knees of adults, shadows on the ceiling in my bedroom, and my parents yelling. I don't think my mom hit us then, I think she was still taking out her anger on our dad. It wasn't until after he left that we became her targets. Well, I say we, but my sister did everything she could to put the blame on herself for anything that went wrong. She did the best she could. She protected me. She kept me safe. She reminded me that we wouldn't be trapped in that house forever. She is my first and oldest friend, she is my only witness, my only battle companion.

I love you, Kadie <3

Christmas, New Years, No Break - Oh My!

2011-12-21T20:42:00.007-06:00

2011 has been a year of many changes for me and my family. One especially interesting change for me, personally? This is the first time in my adult life, really since I started preschool a good 26 years ago, that I have not functioned primarily on an academic calendar. Preschool, Kindergarten, grade school, middle school, high school, college, grad school, working for a school district - 26 years of academia included 26 years of winter breaks (well, they were still Christmas breaks when I started!), spring breaks, summer breaks...I didn't know how good I had it, that's for sure.

So now I have a "big girl" job - aka non-academic, management position - and that means no more academic calendar. Very confusing to my brain and body, which are used to pushing themselves hard for a limited amount of time, then having a week or more off to recover before jumping back in again. I'm still trying to figure out how to gauge my use of energy at work when there are no pauses on the horizon. Sigh. Today marks Day 13 of the great viral bronchitis of 2011 (...as it will be known in my biography. You know, the one that will be written after I am famous and dead) so self-care is definitely on my mind. Clearly, I haven't gotten the hang of it with my new job and new living situation yet.

I love the picture above, clipped from some magazine back when i was a teenager. I've always been a bit of a magazine freak, it's true - thank goodness for the advent of the internet and scanners so I can keep all those images without physically keeping little pieces of paper from decades ago! I think it actually depicts a scene from a play, but to me it always looks like a snapshot from someone's fabulous New Year's Eve party. How do you celebrate that particular holiday? Honestly, for the past few years, I've either watched the ball drop on TV with my son or we've gone to bed as usual. My husband generally goes to church for what's known as Watch Night Service. As far as I can tell, it consists of praise/worship to usher in the new year, followed by a big pancake breakfast. I'm not sure I can handle pancakes in the middle of the night but hey, if it works for you, go with it. Personally, I'm getting too old and tired to pull an all nighter, even with the promise of pancakes to get me through it. Oh well, at least I'm becoming a more interesting person as I age, even if I am less flexible in my sleep/wake cycles!

The Germs are Flowing

2011-12-18T18:06:00.011-06:00

So I've been sick for a little over a week now. Viral bronchitis. And no, this is not going to be one of those pity party pony rides (as my adorable friend Yoga Girl would say) - just wanted to put it out there that, despite feel pretty yucky physically, I'm working on feeling pretty awesome otherwise. It's sort of a new thing for me. I find it even more personally impressive when considering that it is 4:30 in the morning and I've been up for a couple hours - did I mention that my sweet husband has some kind of nasty stomach flu that has resulted in a solid 24 hours of fever, diarrhea, and vomiting? Poor guy. It was pretty adorable hearing about how Monkey Boy "took care of Daddy" while I was at work yesterday, though. I told him to call me in case of an emergency or if he just needed to talk. He called me twice. Call #1 went something like this:

Me - "Hello?"

Monkey - "Mommy? The cream cheese? Does it need to go back in the fridge when my bagel is cream cheesed?"

Me - "Yup. That would definitely be a good plan."

Definitely a child wise beyond his year. Call #2 almost gave me the hiccups, I was laughing so hard:

Me - "Hello?"

Monkey - "Mommy? If Daddy wakes up? Can I let him out of bed, or do I need to keep him in bed?"

Did I mention that Daddy has about 200 pounds on Monkey? I pictured Daddy, feverish and cranky, covered in blankets, attempting to get out of bed as Monkey flung himself across his arm and attempted to "keep him in bed". Ha. It was definitely an amusing mental image.

So I'm proud of myself for trying to be positive and I'm proud of myself for emailing my boss a little while back and asking her to take the morning off. It's hard for me to take time off and get nothing done at home or work, but I'm going to do it. Let the sleeping and snozzing begin! Well, continue ;-)

Made Up for Monkey

2011-12-11T16:14:00.004-06:00

I'm trolling the internet for inspiration on how to make a scarf that looks like the cartoon cheetahs from the Wild Kratts web site for Monkey's Christmas present. While up in Tacoma visiting my boys this weekend, Monkey informed me that I have a scarf, Daddy has a scarf, but he is sadly scarf-less. Hmmm, I said out loud, perhaps I should make you a scarf for Christmas, then? OH, YES!!! was the overwhelming response. So here I am, trying to figure out the details. Luckily, I didn't mention the cheetah idea to Monkey during the aforementioned discussion. If worst comes to worst, I'll go with something a little less complicated.

Part two of my presents to Monkey will be a handmade journal, with all different types of cool paper and even a few writing prompts. He isn't crazy about writing in school, but he is always coming up with great stories and observations about the world around him. Last year I brought home a little ready-made journal left over from an activity I did with one of my students and Monkey claimed it immediately. A few weeks later, I found it on his bookshelf, filled to the brim with tales from school, jokes, things he wanted to do that summer, and plans for his birthday party. Yup, that's my kiddo :-)

As for my husband, everything I've gotten for him so far is not appropriate to be opened in front of family. And that's all *you* are hearing about those gifts, as well! Hmm...something family appropriate for husband...any ideas?

Homeless...Sort Of

2011-12-10T17:26:00.013-06:00

I am 30 years old. I have a husband, who I have known for nearly a decade and with whom I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary next week. I have a 6-and-a-half (as he reminded me this morning) son, our wee (well, getting not-so-wee these days) Monkey Boy. And we are homeless. Not out on the street, nowhere warm to sleep overnight, homeless. But me staying with my parents in Portland while I work down there, Husband & Monkey living in Tacoma while he works up here, paying rent so we don't feel quite as much like freeloading boomerang generationers, driving up and down I-5 as much as our schedules allow to spend time as a family, both of us with our own rooms, but no actual structure/apartment/studio to call *home*. Yup, it's weird, especially when we've been living parent-free for over a decade. Especially this time of year, when all we really want to do (especially in the yucky, slightly depressing Pacific Northwest winter weather) is hole up at home and spend time as a family playing board games, watching movies, etc. I guess you could say we are Our-Own-Homeless.

I'm not really going anywhere with this...just feeling a little melancholy this afternoon, I suppose. Still, at least I'm not Our-Own-Homeless alone, right?

ps: I tried to post this yesterday from Tacoma, but the internet connection (or maybe the computer?) wasn't cooperating. Oh well. Back in Portland now. No husband/child (boo!) but reliable internet (yay!) here.

On Visualization & Gift Boxes

2011-12-09T09:53:00.007-06:00

I just glanced at yesterday's post and realized I forgot to give it a title. Oops! Is it just me, or do you find that the title is often the hardest part of writing blog posts? Or writing in general? I still remember how my teachers used to say, "Start with the title." What?!?! That *completely* goes against who I am and how I do things. How can you give something a title before you know what it consists of? It's absurd to my little brain.

So as you probably remember, this year I am staying with my dad & step-mom, which has been quite the adventure, probably 90% good, if I were to put a fake statistic on the experience. Well, last night my dad got home from work when I was in the communal kitchen, unpacking and rewrapping my husband's Christmas presents from my mother-in-law (she had them delivered to our house so that 1) he wouldn't peek and 2) she wouldn't have to pay sales tax - that was the order of importance!). So first let me say that Amazon is seriously the undisputed king of overpackaging items - holy cow! This would make more sense if I explained the size of the items involved, but of course then this would turn out to the be only post that my husband reads this month (go away, honey! I want you to be surprised!) so you'll just have to trust me when I say that the largest box could fit several small children in it. It was like Babushka dolls, every time I opened and removed a box, there was another box nestled inside it.

See? Now I'm getting off on a bunny trail about packaging when really what I wanted to tell you about was what I did *with* the packaging. I've been considering festive packaging for my own presents for my husband, which are small & multiple. All of that corrugated cardboard made me think, hmmm...perhaps I can fold fun little boxes in usual shapes! I started with a small cube, just to see if I could figure out how to do it, then progressed to a diamond shape. I approached this task the same way I do most problems in life: first I visualized it, then I did it. So there I was, ruler and pen in hand, tracing out the lines for a 3-D diamond box made out of one piece of cardboard, when my dad interrupted himself mid-sentence:

Him: "Hmm....did you take an engineering course in college?"

Me: "Uhhh, no..." (did I mention I was a music major?)

Him: "Oh...maybe a design course?"

Me: "Nope, no design..." (and my masters is in music therapy?)

Him: "So...how do you know how to do that?"

Me: "I don't know....I guess I just thought about it and figured out the lines and angles in my head and now I'm just...doing it?"

And you know what? It worked! Not perfectly, of course - I eyeballed all of the angles, rather than using a protractor (or is it a compass? I could never keep those two pieces of equipment straight in high school!). I think it is a recognizable diamond, anyway. What do you think?

ps: After I made sure the box would come together the way I cut it, I covered it in wrapping paper. Amazon's shipping boxes are not *that* festive, LOL

Apparently Untitled

2011-12-08T19:39:00.005-06:00

It's been a while, hasn't it? I really didn't mean to take a couple weeks off blogging, it just sort of happened. In fact, I've started several posts and not finished them for one reason or another. But that's just how life is sometimes, isn't it? It doesn't always feel right, it doesn't always flow, and you can't always get through it without getting distracted or interrupted. So, oh well. I'm glad you're still here.

I'd definitely forgotten how chilly it is here in Oregon this time of year, brrr! Can't say I'm not not missing the warm Texas sun right about now, that's for sure. There's something about winter weather that makes me feel nostalgic, though, and being in my hometown has definitely made those feelings stronger this year. The funny thing is that it's not really directly related to Christmas or New Year's - my mom never made a big deal of those holidays when we were growing up and I can count on one hand the number of "traditions" (and I use that term very loosely) we had. The things that tend to stick with me are generally related to activities I was involved in - singing at the Grotto with my high school choir - dancing at the Santa's Fling competition up in British Columbia (where the awards were Christmas ornaments instead of medals or ribbons - so cute!) - playing my cello at church - the list goes on. Some years we got to go to a Christmas party with my step-mom's family, which was always fun. I think about these things a lot when we plan stuff to do with Monkey Boy now but, still, I don't consider myself someone who really *CELEBRATES* the holidays in a traditionally American sense. There is no rampant shopping, the most holiday parties I've ever gone to in a single year is two, and most of the time I don't even remember to call my parents on the big days. I guess I'm an apathetic holiday kind of gal, huh?

That's all I got for today, folks. Not very exciting, but at least I'm here. Showing up is half the battle, right?

Tartan Toes & Turkey Cards

2011-11-25T13:25:00.020-06:00

So my husband is a pretty wonderful guy. He's not always touchy-feely-mushy, especially in public, but I've never doubted the man loves me and he always finds special ways to show me. Take Wednesday, for example. I was working from my mother-in-law's house in Tacoma, telecommuting, and he asked me if I could take a long lunch as he had a surprise for me. Um, sure I could! Next thing I know, I'm ankle-deep in hot water, being scrubbed and rubbed and pumiced and painted until I'm so relaxed I'm practically snoring in the squishy pedicure chair. Oh yeah, he knows how to make me feel loved! Check out the end result:

Pretty, right? I'm totally getting into all the gray shades of nailpolish that seem to be popular right now. It's funny - I generally either go super-girly (think Barbie) or modern & clean without a hint of pink. Clearly, this is the latter.

So now that relaxation was out of the way, it was time to focus on the main event of the week: Thanksgiving! Monkey Boy was gently coerced into creating name cards for the dinner table. I can't even begin to explain how much whining went into this task, and there were only 7 to make! It boggles my mind to think how painful it would have been had the entire family, or even just a few more branches, come this year. I think the biggest group I've ever witnessed at my in-law's house was around 30. Probably small for most of you, but absolutely gigantic for a girl who grew up with all her relatives in other countries! Here's a pic I managed to get of the finished name cards before we set the table:

...and of course, the Thanksgiving table, all set and ready to go on Thursday morning. We were only planning on 6 at dinner, but Monkey Boy wanted to set a place for Katy the cat, so I added an eighth for the sake of symmetry.

Yup, those are folding chairs & plastic tablecloths - we like to keep it classy! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Any fabulous traditions or new experiences you'd like to share?

Ugh, Ugh, The Drive Was Ugh

2011-11-22T14:56:00.017-06:00

The drive was not cute this morning. It really shouldn't take over 4 hours to drive about 145 miles. Seriously. Not cool. Plus with the icky rain the whole way. Have I mentioned recently I'm totally remembering why so many people are diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the Pacific Northwest? Ugh.

Still, I did manage to find three bright points in the drive, the first two of which are original quotes from Monkey Boy:

#1 - [waving a Red Vine over his head] "Mommy, did you know that some people call these licorice? That's because they're made of liquid..." Clearly.

#2 - [after asking me to pause the CD and listen intently (I heard nothing)] "Mommy, do you know why I can't snap loud? It's because I talk too loud. There's not enough sound left to come out my fingers." His scientific theories are certainly arresting, if not plausible.

#3 - Monkey is now officially addicted to the Hallelujah Chorus - yessss!!! And yes, I do listen to classical music while I drive, not because I think it reduces my road rage, because I like to sing along! "Forrrrrrrr the Lord GOD om-NIIIIIII-po-tent reeeeeeeeeigneth!" ;-)

Thank you, Jesus, the drive is over!!! Until Sunday, anyway :-P

What's New & How Are You?

2011-11-21T18:09:00.011-06:00

So very soon I will be packing up a bag, cleaning a little clutter out of the car, and getting a good night's sleep so Monkey Boy & I can drive up to SeaTac tomorrow morning to retrieve Daddy at the airport and then back down to Tacoma to crash at my mother-in-law's (aka Where-Daddy-and-Monkey-are-Living-This-Year). While I would love to say that I am very motivated to get myself together for this trip, the reality is that I am not. I woke up feeling pretty good this morning, got some work done while Monkey watched Rio, the movie we rented last night, for a 2nd and 3rd time (might be a new favorite!) and then, right around 2 o'clock - BAM. Stomach cramps, shooting gas pains, and diarrhea. Um, hello? Gut? What the heck is going on? Please believe me when I tell you that NOTHING I ate today, yesterday, or even the day before should warrant this sort of response from my GI system. So what's going on? I'm not sure, but you can bet that I will continue to investigate with my doctor until some sort of reasonable explanation can be found. For now, I will just continue to get as much sleep as possible (how is it possible to sleep 9-10 hours a night and STILL be fatigued, I ask you??) and to take my daytime tasks one at a time. Take that, angry guts :-P

In other news, I got my winter coat! Well, actually - I got TWO winter coats! Just as I'd finished writing all about my crazy, consumerist pipe dreams for the day after Thanksgiving, guess what arrived in my inbox? An ad for 75% off all adult outerwear at Old Navy, 12-5 pm only on Saturday. Hmm...75% this Saturday or 50% off next Friday with Black Friday crowds? Yup, that was pretty much a no-brainer. Since it was a limited-time sale and I'd have Monkey with me, I went ahead and took a gander at the selection online. Look at the cutie wool coat I found there!

photo source

They were even cuter in person! And, with the lovely 5-hour sale, less than $20 apiece. The really difficult part was choosing a color - I'd called ahead and asked the nice salesgirl to put a gray coat with red toggles and a red coat with black toggles on hold for me [Um...have I mentioned lately that toggles have been a lifelong obsession of mine?!?!]. When I tried them on, I figured the gray would be more serviceable and appropriate for work and the red toggles were probably enough color for me. Monkey Boy insisted that the red jacket was the way to go, though. He denounced the gray coat as, "Boring, mommy!" So, what could I do? No warm coats at home, two perfectly-lovely, perfectly-fitting coats in front of me (with hoods! and TOGGLES!!!), $19 each - clearly, I bought both. And I am pleased with that decision.

Here is a photo Monkey took of me modeling the new red coat:

In his defense, it is difficult to hold the Blackberry still while snapping a photo. Still, this may be why there are few 6-year-old professional photographers!

Monkey and I also started his Christmas lists together this weekend. That's right, you heard correctly, lists - plural. I figure we can do this whole commercial Christmas thing and still make it meaningful. So, if Monkey wants to make a list of things he'd like to receive, that's fine, but he will also be making a list of things that he is making/giving to others. He did a great start on the latter yesterday and has already planned & helped me execute the gifts for three of his cousins, my sister's kiddos up in Seattle [if you want to know more about them, check out her amazing blog]. I wish that I could share the projects with y'all now, but we want to make sure that Girly Girl, Boy Boy, and Little Moo are surprised when they open those packages! So, for now, I will just say that it was a super-easy project for both of us - Monkey did all of the planning, tracing, picking materials, and all I had to do was pin and sew. Definitely tutorial-worthy in the future!

Secret Confessions of a Declutterer

2011-11-18T13:12:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, I still want to shop retail. The thought of hitting a sale and getting a bargain on something that I don't REALLY need but just WANT - okay, yeah, it still gets me all tingly sometimes. What can I say? Old habits are hard to entirely eradicate from your psyche!

So, then, you can understand why I might be examining all of the Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday sale fliers that are getting slapped up around the internet. Making a little pretend list of things I lust after doesn't hurt...did I mention that I'm currently in Oregon, land of no sales tax? So, in no particular order of lustability:

#1 - Leisure wheeled garment bag, Early Bird Special @ Kohls (Thursday at Midnight - Friday 1:00 pm) Regularly $179.99 On Sale for $49.99

I do have a functional garment bag for my dance costumes, but it is technically my husband's. When he was packing for a business trip this week and mentioning how he wishes he could use his garment bag (oops!) I thought, goodness, maybe I should get a new one since mine died a couple years back! Do I want one with wheels for ease of portability at dance competitions and Highland Games? Um, duh!

#2 - Home Classics Reversible Down Alternative Comforter, Early Bird Special @ Kohls (Thursday at Midnight - Friday 1:00 pm) Regularly $99.99 On Sale for $26.99

It's a lot colder in Oregon than it is in Texas and my husband is a blanket hog. Need I say more?

#2 Revised - Check this out! Kmart has the same item for only $19.99 if I get there between 6:00 am and 11:00 am on Friday! See? it pays to shop around :-)

#3 - GE 7.0 Cubic Foot Chest Freezer, Walmart (Thursday at Midnight - Friday at Midnight) On Sale for $159

I don't have a home to put it in, currently, so this is definitely a Wish List Only item, but, oh my gosh...the freeze ahead cooking I could do with one of these babies!
#4 - Huffy 26" Cranbrooks Cruiser Bike, Walmart (Thursday at 10 pm - Thursday at Midnight), On Sale for $69

So, so cute and Portland-y! Not entirely sure where I could "cruise" on it, given that I'm currently living in the West Hills, but I'm sure I could figure something out ;-)

#5 - Next 16" Boys' Cobra Bike, Walmart (Thursday at 10 pm - Thursday at Midnight), On Sale for $25

We have planned to get Monkey a bike for, what, 2 years now? Might be time to go ahead and deliver on that promise!

#6 - Paper Jamz Guitar, Walmart (Thursday at 10 pm - Thursday at Midnight), On Sale for $7

I would love to get several of these to stock up the office at work. I have a few clients in mind who would totally rock out with them!

#7 - Sewing Machine Travel Case, Walmart (Thursday at 10 pm - Thursday at Midnight), On Sale for $25

I totally don't need this. I can carry my sewing machine by hand when I have (the very rare) sewing dates with my friends. It's not like I'm a sewing professional, for pete's sake. But...it has multiple storage compartments and comes in a variety of prints and it makes me happy that there are cases for sewing machines :-)

#8 - Portable Universal iPhone/iPod Speakers, Walmart (Thursday at Midnight - Friday at Midnight), On Sale for $7

Yes, these are for work. I am a sucker for portable speakers and love trying out different brands/styles to see which ones have the biggest bang (well, bass) for the buck. I also love how these look like they can attach to a bag with the hook on top, so cute! Did I mention that my iPod, as of this morning, is officially full? One more organizing project to add to the To Do list.

#9 - 50% Off All Outerwear, Old Navy (Doors Open Thursday at Midnight)

I need a warm, fuzzy coat. Did I mention it's cold in Oregon? I mean, it's supposed to snow this weekend!

See? End of the list...not that bad, I kept it in single digits! I have to say it's a little bit disturbing that Walmart is offering guns on special for Black Friday. Especially the pistol for $20. Wow! Super-cheap way to off someone, huh? Not sure how much ammunition is, but it should still be economical.

So I'll keep you posted on my internal struggles of buying retail this next week. It may be a little more challenging if I do decide to purchase anything since we will be up in Tacoma with my honey's family for Thanksgiving. In some ways easier, though, since box stores are within city limits, unlike here in Portland. It's smart, though - put the big retail stores out in the suburbs and people are more likely to buy from local merchants, in my humble opinion.

An Organizing Teaser & Tiny "New" Pants

2011-11-15T14:48:00.013-06:00

I'm afraid I'm going to be a bit of a tease today. It's my first day back at work and feeling reasonably human in...oh goodness, maybe two weeks? Anyhow, wanted to drop a quick note and share the pictures I took in the office yesterday of our current instrument storage system. Or, should I say, the instrument hodgepodge that really needs a storage system in place to quell the madness? I'll let you be the judge...

The other three walls of the office are reasonably organized but, oh my goodness - the instrument wall just makes me want to crawl under my desk and hide! Luckily, I'm not the only one who feels that way. One of my coworkers volunteered to help me overhaul the area and we got the go-ahead from our boss to purchase bins & boxes as needed. Stay tuned for pictorial updates as we weed through the madness!

Remember those t-shirt skirts I upcycled? The scraps have been sitting on my sewing pile for a little while now - they weren't huge, but I felt bad throwing them away if they could become useful. Inspiration finally struck this weekend - baby pants! One of the things I've discovered about turning 30 is that a vast majority of my age-mates are getting pregnant. While we are not planning on any more buns in this oven (one 11 lb. newborn is enough, thank you!), the plethora of offspring in my social group is a great excuse for sewing. Right, since I needed an excuse, right? ;-)

I looked around at a few patterns for baby pants in the 6-12 months size range, but ended up just piecing the scraps and winging it. What do you think?

I think the next pair is going to have a slightly higher rise, although it is longer than it looks in the photo (I wanted to leave plenty of diaper room). Plus the colors look oddly washed out here...hmm...normally my Blackberry is so reliable! Oh well. I came up with the "brand name" I want to put on my clothing, too: "Gabe" With the quotes, definitely. It's an inside joke that one day I will explain...you know, when I'm a rich and famous blogger! ;-)

Taking Care of Me

2011-11-09T12:16:00.006-06:00

I'm home sick today. I know, I know - I'll give you a moment to pick up your chin from the ground. Anyhow, after last week's lovely stomach virus, I spent a couple days arguing with my sinuses, trying to convince them that it was not acceptable for them to get infected. They finally agreed with me, but unfortunately decided not to share the memo with my throat and lungs. I sound sexy today, let me tell you. When the husband and I spoke on the phone last night, he responded to my query of, "How are you?" with, "Not as deep as you!" Maximum impact of humor here is dependent on you having heard my husband's voice - suffice it to say, our choirmates in college compared his speaking voice to Barry White. 'Nuff said.

I had one of those funny, "oh yeah, not everyone in the world is a Highland dancer" moments when I checked in with my boss over the phone this morning. It was literally five minutes after I woke up and my voice was impressively baritone & froggy. Here's the pertinent snippet of convo:

Boss: "How is your body feeling?"

Me: "Other than my lungs and my throat, my body feels great."

Boss: "Your lungs and your throat ARE your body!"

Me: "Oh, right..."

You know you're a Highland dancer when you focus on the body parts the judge can see on stage. You know you're a music therapist when you're most concerned about important body parts like, oh yeah, the respiratory system!

My plan for the day is to take it easy on myself. I figure, if I've been sick for over a week now, my body is trying to tell me something. Okay, body, I'm listening! The most stressful part of the day will be knocking down my To Do list from work, most of which can be done via the computer, with a few phone calls thrown in. Other than that, housework is out - no laundry, not unpacking boxes, etc. Goofing off after work is in - knitting, watching episodes of Ugly Betty or Sex & the City, and writing emails/letters to friends. Today, I am determined not to feel guilty about taking some time for myself without worrying about producing anything or helping anyone else out. Let the healing begin :-)

Love from my baby boy is the best medicine

I'm in a State of UGH

2011-11-05T12:07:00.003-05:00

Deep thought for this morning: I don't like my blog right now. I don't like what I've posted, how it's organized, or what I want to post. Off morning? Maybe. I think it may be more of a reflection of my life in general right now. I don't feel balanced, I don't feel organized, I don't feel like I'm in charge of my own destiny...or even my own day-to-day schedule, honestly. Most evenings I get home from work and I'm so tired that I can barely work up the energy to check my personal email, skype/phone call my husband & son, and go to bed. I'm just tired all the time and I feel like the things that need to get done (like finishing unpacking, for pete's sake - I've been here since July!) never get done because either there's something more urgent to be done or I'm just tired & lazy.

Do you ever feel like this? How do you work through it? Help :-(

Let It Out, Yes?

2011-10-16T19:56:00.004-05:00

See this?

This is what remains of three Value Village t-shirts which have recently undergone an upcycling adventure to become two darling skirts for my sister. Now, before you start thinking what a wonderful baby sister I am, I must admit: she bribed/bartered with me for these skirts using (mmmmm!) homemade applesauce. The kind with chunks, not super-pureed. Just how I like it. Yes, a lot of love went into these two skirts in anticipation of the applesauce. This is why bribery by siblings works - they know your weaknesses!

So I am running into a problem which I'm sure is common for many of you - I have SO MANY ideas(!!!) and not enough "free" time to actually carry them out. But...it's important, you know? To take these things out of your brain and put them into the world, to take the time off from everything that *has* to be done and to create just for the sake of creating. Necessary? No. The world will keep spinning without creation and art. I'm just not sure that I'd want to be part of that world.

What have y'all been working on lately?

A Surprise Trip to Tacoma

2011-10-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

So the trip to Colorado was amazing, but the trip home was pretty rough. I realized, before we even boarded the plan in DIA, that I HAD to see my boys. Luckily, my schedule was flexible enough this week that I could take Monday and Tuesday off work - especially good since I worked 52 hours last week and really needed some extra rest time! Of course, one must always go through the dark in order to get to the light. In my case, this meant 21 hours from getting up in Fort Collins Sunday morning until finally pulling up in front of the house in Tacoma at nearly 3 am Monday morning. The last 3 hours were especially exciting, involving driving through fog from Portland to Tacoma with the windows open, music blasting, and eating ice cream in an attempt to stay awake. I can't even remember the last time I've seen fog, let alone driven in it!

It was all worth it, though, when my mother-in-law woke me up around 10 am Monday so I could join my special little guy for lunch at his school for the very first time this year. On the way out of the house, I had to stop and admire his "Mini Me" from Open House, who found a permanent home on the room of his door.

Cute, right? I was pleased to find that school lunches have improved a LOT since my elementary school days, and then enjoyed joining Monkey's first grade class for a lesson on sight words and a trip to the library. Have I mentioned that Monkey is now attending the same elementary school my husband went to? You know that's adorable! I got some work done Monday afternoon and then, when both the boys got home, we enjoyed a big spaghetti dinner (courtesy of my ridiculously talented mother-in-law) and a rather over-competitive game of Monopoly. We made it a whole hour before we all got bored with it!

Then there was the matter, of course, of a certain little lady who I like to call my very best friend in the whole entire world. Aaah, Tay! We met in college, she was one of my housemates senior year, moved out to Virginia with me when I was starting grad school - and just HAPPENED to meet the love of HER life at that same university! - and is one of my few friends who has lived in as many states as I have in the past 12 years. The only downside to our combined wanderlust? Tay and her wonderful hubby are now living in Honolulu, so we don't get to see each other all that often. In fast, the last time we saw each other in person was at their wedding, in summer 2007. Let's have a visual flashback, shall we? And yes, my hair was slightly orange ;-)

I got a call the week before that Tay was flying to the mainland to visit her parents but - alas! - she flew into SeaTac the day AFTER I flew to Denver. Luckily, her visit was long enough that we could schedule a morning together on on Tuesday before I had to drive back to Portland. So I decided to finally devirginize Tay's toes - yay! Pedicures! We went to the best little nail salon in Tacoma and, coincidentally, the same place where my darling husband devirginized my own toes nearly a decade ago. Of course we had to be nerdy and take pictures to mark the occasion. First, Tay looking lovely and not nearly as nervous as I was my first visit here:

...and then me, with my legs that I'm only realizing now are kind of scary white. Man, I guess I really did depend on that Texas sun to keep me from turning vampire-esque!

The nail ladies were getting annoyed that it took us so long to pick colors, I think. Tay settled on a dusty rose-ish pink, very girly, very her :-)

I've had gray toenails for the last month (I know, so stylish, right?) and was going to try the olive green, but was advised against it as "too much like gangrene" by my darling friend. Instead, I settle on my old faithful - dark red. Call me crazy, but I always try to get a dark or bright oclor when I go for a pedicure, like something I wouldn't be able to put on neatly myself at home, you know?

We quite literally can (and have) talked for hours. One thing we agreed on that really stuck with me, though, was this: We haven't seen each other in person for four years and yet, when we are together, it feels like we see each other every day. That, my friend, is true love. I love you, Tay :-*

Old, Angry Guitar ---> POOF! ---> New, Happy Clock

2011-10-02T18:55:00.048-05:00

Okay, so, confession time: While I am a board-certified music therapist and dance instructor by name, I have a strong wannabe complex when it comes to visual arts. I would never call myself an artist, but I somehow feel more...alive when something evolves in my hands. Sewing, painting, quilting, baking, collage, graphic design...you name it, I'll try it. Not that things always go smoothly - remember when I sewed my finger last Spring? Ouch. Seriously, ouch. But less than a week later, I was back behind the wheel (of my sewing machine) and ready to create again. Major crafty nerdiness, right here, people!

The seed for this particular project was planted back in June via this picture I found on Pinterest. Gorgeous, right? But where to get guitars no longer worthy of playing but totally worthy of upcycling? [Sidenote: Aah! First non-clothing upcycle project! Exciting :-D] I kept my eyes open on Freecycle and Craig's List for the next few weeks, scouring the 'burbs of DFW for an old, angry guitar, but came up empty-handed. Huh, I thought. Guess I'll have to wait for this project. And I shelved the idea (pun somewhat intended) and moved on to other things, like, ooooh, I don't know, being offered and accepting a new job, packing up the entire family and moving 2,000 miles back to the Pacific Northwest? Yeah, that pretty much kept my mind off my crafting guitar-less status.

So imagine my surprise when, several weeks ago, my amazing boss asked me to oversee the inspection of five old guitars with a repairman, hoping that two of them would be worth fixing up to be used as spares in our clinic. Hmmm...whatever shall we do with the three others? I wondered out loud. Trade-in, donate, recycle...yes! Recycle! I'm in! After getting the go ahead from my boss, I called my Dad and informed him, "Power up the power tools!" Yes, I totally said that out loud. I'm nerdy like that :-D

So here's the old, angry guitar on our kitchen counter, waiting to be loved on...

...as well as a display of the tools of the guitar-upcycling trade - clock mechanism kit, AA battery, strong wooden ruler, and a box cutter. Fancy, yes?

So first I removed the broken strings

Looking pretty naked without the strings, huh?

That's me, loosening the bridge with a butter knife. Oh yeah, we keep it high-tech at our house!

Then Dad flipped over the guitar...

...I marked a rectangle in Sharpies (key for removing the screws holding in the bridge and installing the clock mechanism)...
...and Dad drilled some lead holes.

Several slices across the varnish to cut out a rectangle...this looked like so much fun, I totally swiped the boxcutter from Dad pretty much as soon as I put the camera down, hee hee!

Ooooh, aaaah! Like a tiny door into the music-making magic ;-)

So then it was time to deal with the ugly, varnish-less mark where the bridge used to be...

I'm not gonna lie, using the power-sander was super-fun, but a little hard to control. I ended up going with the old school hand-sanding method. Exciting, I know ;-)

First coat of paint on...

...and after the second coat, we have a golden guitar, courtesy of Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Metallic Acrylic Craft Paint in "Copper"

Golden guitar, freshly varnished...still a little gooey, though

I wanted to come up with something pretty and guitar-ey to accent the numbers. I nosed around and found some origami paper within the boxes of still-unpacked office supplies, borrowed a guitar pick from my Dad to trace, grabbed some scissors and, voila! Paper "guitar picks" - colorful and free!

Glue sticks are so useful for things like 1st grade art collages and attaching paper accents to guitars...

Clock mechanism installed, guitar picks attached...

...numbers attached...

...and another coat of varnish for like-new guitar clock shine!

Next, it was time for test placement for the flourishes

...yup, even up on the fingerboard!

The flourishes seemed a little...stark, so they got a fresh coat of Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Metallic Acrylic Craft Paint in "Rust" to make them blend in a little more

Finally! It's done! (and my room needs to be cleaned, clearly)

So here's the final product, mounted above the door of one of our offices. Have I mentioned that we are housed in a building that's about a century old? Sooo Portland vintage!

Here's a pic to give you a little more perspective. Nice, right? Okay, so maybe pretend that the white cabinet has been cleaned out and the little CD stand isn't actually there...

The view from below...those extra nails will be removed once I figure out a better way to attach the neck of the guitar to the wall...any ideas?

Oooh, did I mention the best part? There are still two guitars patiently waiting to be upcycled - stay tuned for Parts 2 & 3 of this upcycling adventure!

Get It Out & Get Back On Task!

2011-09-28T14:07:00.007-05:00

Some random thoughts gathered from the depths of my brain while working from home this morning:

1) Hummus tastes really good on scrambled eggs. Especially Trader Joe's hummus. Who knew?

2) Varnish takes a reeeeeally long time to dry. Or maybe it's just 'cause I'm impatient to finish this project so I can take it to work and tell y'all about it! Aargh!

ps: This is not the brand I am using, but don't you *love* that it's called "Extreme"(!!!) varnish? LOL

3) This is my 101st blog post! I had no idea - thanks, Blogspot, for letting me know :-)

4) So, most of my adult life I've thought that I totally hate clothing, but I'm coming to realize that I only hate clothing in other parts of the country. In Portland, where the status quo is sort of a relaxed, hippie-ish, organic cotton vibe, getting dressed for work is becoming far less irritating. It also is involving more skirts, leggings, and upcycling stodgy old pieces of clothing. Yay!

photo credit

5) I've discovered the *perfect* Christmas gift for all of my (local) friends on Pinterest! Here's your hint - the packaging will look somewhat like the picture below. Speaking of, I'm addicted to Pinterest - et tu?

6) While my DFW friends are sharing stories of shorts and air conditioning, I got to wear a sweater to work yesterday. I'd forgotten how much I *love* wearing cozy, comfy sweaters and feeling the crisp Fall air in the Pacific Northwest on my face - yes!

Okay, then, all random thoughts out of my head and into the blogosphere. Let's get back to work!

A Tale of Three Tees

2011-09-23T18:49:00.012-05:00

Do you ever get the itching to just...create? Start feeling restless and need to feel something under your fingers, something you can manipulate and make it entirely new? Repurpose and reuse and realize how something in your imagination can become real when you use your own two hands?

Yeah, me too.

I got the bug for tees to skirts after seeing a pretty young thing tooling around downtown Portland in what looked like the most perfectly broken in jersey skirt I've ever seen. Casual, comfortable, and oh-so-chic. I'd show you a picture, but I haven't gotten quite so comfortable in Portland that I'm ready to accost strangers with my Blackberry yet - maybe a few more weeks before I give that class act a try!

So I did what any happy crafter would do - As soon as I got home, I jumped on my computer and Googled my butt off! Check out some of my favorites from the dozens of tutorials I perused:

Melissa @ Sew Like My Mom shares her adventures in Shirt Skirts - uber-cute!

Destri @ The Mother Huddle suggests using and old undershirt for an Easy Elastic Waistband

Mandy @ Sugar Bee Crafts made Easy Knit Skirts for herself and her two adorable daughters

Ashley @ Make It and Love It constructed a Skirt with Yoga Style Waistband from a shirt

...and finally, Cathie @ Domestic in the City nearly got me off-task and onto about 101 t-shirt makeover projects!

Utilizing tips from all of these tutorials, I confidently headed off to Value Village to find my tees. I had a liiiittle too much fun in the men's department - my initial pull included 17 tees. A few too many for an initial experiment, even as less than $4 each. I had to get serious: first, I lined up the tees in order of price. Second, working from least to most expensive, I made some tough decisions. Red tee with gangsta, tattoo-style imprinting? Amazing, but at the high end of the price range. Black tee with studded copper-colored design? Gorgeous, but I had doubts about it hanging nicely with that much weight on one side. In the end, I narrowed it down to three tees: #1 was a nice, plain purple generic tee; #2 was a deconstructed green tee from Old Navy with an orange, tribal print on one side of the chest; #3 was periwinkle and featured lyrics from a Steven Curtis Chapman song. Total cost for three new skirts, including the use of two worn-out tank tops already in my closet? $8.97.

Tee #1 Before
Man, I really need to learn to hold my Blackberry still!

Tee #1 After
Quote from my Step-Mom: "I would SO wear that!"

Tee #2 Before
I almost kept this one as a t-shirt - it looked so comfy!

Tee #2 After
Deconstructed, reconstructed, and soft as a newborn's insteps

Tee #3 Before
Cover your heart in lyrics

Tee #3 After
The lyrics are upside-down to y'all, but perfect for me to remind myself:

we are the treasured and the prized
we are the apple of God's eye
we are the ones who fear his name
we are the children he has claimed as his
we are the ones God sent his son to rescue

we are the ones to keep the rocks from crying out
we are the voices that will shout his praise
we are the sons and daughters of the almighty God
we are the children of God

So I'm Back...Sort Of?

2011-09-22T22:54:00.009-05:00

It's been a summer of changes, that's for sure. I had an amazing job offer in Portland, Oregon (my home town) - really, it would not be an exaggeration for me to say it was my dream job. How many people can say that about a job offer at age 30?? I'm just saying...so going with that thought, as well as considering about a thousand other details, my dear husband and I decided it was time to pack up and go. Yes, we left our beloved DFW behind and shipped ourselves back to the Pacific Northwest. Hard to believe it's been 12 years since I left Portland for college and...here I am. Here I am. Just me.

Monkey Boy & Daddy are currently living up in Tacoma, Washington, where my dear husband got a job. Being an elementary school teacher and given the ridiculously bad job market in the Pacific Northwest (much worse that Texas, we're finding) it is truly a God-send and an answer to our prayers for him to have a position. There is much to be said for a paycheck and benefits, especially with a small Monkey around. It has definitely been a challenge to our marriage and our family life already in the three months we've been here, but we can do it. We are committed to doing it - I think that's what makes the difference. That and Skype, which Monkey has endearingly nicknamed "PING!", as in, "I'll PING! you tomorrow, Mommy!" My boys are currently living with my amazing Mother-in-Law, who is retired and cares for Monkey before and after school with lots of love, lots of homecooked meals, and lots of cousins coming over to play. Monkey has taken to his big extended family like a fish to water.

It's still pretty surreal to me, in every aspect of my life, actually. All the commuting back and forth to Tacoma (about a 2 hour drive) isn't helping much with getting myself mentally centered either, I think. Most mornings I wake up and I have no sense of where I am - Texas? Washington? Oregon? No clue. I've been having some issues with insomnia (it's HARD sleeping in a bed by yourself after years of co-sleeping!), so it's a good thing my Dad & Step-Mom have an awesome cappuccino machine. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yup, I've moved in with my dad and step-mom. Luckily, they have a big house in the West Hills of Portland, so I have my own space and they have theirs. My room, which is seriously about half the size of our apartment in Dallas, has an attached full bathroom and is in the daylight basement of the house. A daylight basement, I've learned, occurs when a house is built into a hill, so one side of the room is window-less, facing into the hill, and the other is fully above ground. I have a huge window and a sliding glass door on the above ground side, the latter of which leads onto a deck with a hot tub and has steps leading down into the woods, where a creek runs about 200 yards away from the house. Yup. Tough gig, living here. Not too say there aren't challenges, though: I haven't lived with my Dad since my parents got divorced in 1986 - when I was 5 years old. I've never lived with my Step-Mom, but luckily she and I get along like peanut butter & jelly. I'm blessed, I know. How many adults get a second chance to get to know the parent who wasn't allowed in their childhood?

Why yes, I *am* that girl who will hold up traffic in order to take an awesome picture while commuting! My husband finds it hilarious when I refer to Mt. Hood as "my mountain" and burst out with Portland colloquiums such as, "Look! The mountain is out today!"

Sooo...How You Been?

2011-05-29T09:33:00.005-05:00

I know we haven't talked in a while. If it makes you feel better, I've been neglecting my flesh & blood friends, as well. I'm sitting here enjoying some silence (well, minus the air conditioning unit outside my window) while Husband and Monkey Boy are doing the weekly grocery run. They volunteered. Score! I am torn as to my opinion of their return, though: On one hand, I enjoy the silence. On the other hand, I have chai and no soy milk, so they really are necessary for me to have my morning tea! Of course, once they are back, there will be no silence in which to enjoy my tea. Sort of a Catch 22...

I'm also installing the software for my new phone. After 3 years with my last, cute little phone (I have issues with change, clearly) it started acting funky a couple months ago, so after much thought and research I ended up getting a BlackBerry Torch. Ah, yes, my first smart phone! And yes, I realized I'm a little behind the times, but that's cool. Technology is much more exciting to me when it's a personal accomplishment, not the trendy thing to do.

So here is Hint #1 for the big changes that are coming: The smart phone will be very useful for me professionally.

I will end this morning with a favorite quotation shared with me by a college professor back in the day (more than a decade ago now - man, I feel old! LOL):

...and we can just consider that Hint #2 ;-)

The Times, They Are A'Changin'

2011-05-18T12:59:00.002-05:00

Some big changes are brewing around here and, if you're anything like me, you don't like waiting for your suprises. Like all the changes life brings, there are good points and bad points to our upcoming adventure, and I just have to keep reminding myself (and the husband and Monkey Boy) that we are embarking on this particular path in an attempt to better our future, even though it means giving up things that we love today. Whatever my lot, you have taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul :-)

Ode to my Slow Cooker

2011-04-18T15:29:00.007-05:00

Slow cooker, my slow cooker,
I hope that you know,
what a big difference
you make in my home

I put in ingredients,
then to work I go,
while you gently cook
the meat and potatoes.

The vegetables, too,
which I will then feed,
to my husband and son
when they come home in need

Of a hot, tasty dinner
at the end of the day.
You make my life simpler,
and so I must say...

***THANK YOU!!!***

(Do other people write bad poetry about their appliances?)

Meal Planning - April 11

2011-04-10T18:49:00.004-05:00

This week's fabulous meal plan comes to us courtesy of my amazing husband. I am only sad that, as I write this, I am digesting tonight's amazing dinner (barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing and green beans) and you have none, dear reader. Sigh.

Monday

Lunch - Chicken salad on croissants, berries, yogurt

Dinner - Baby burgers and french fries

Tuesday

Lunch - Turkey sandwiches on ciabatta bread, grapes, chips

Dinner - Mexican Chicken Soup (made ahead & frozen)

Wednesday

Lunch - Bagels with cream cheese, yogurt, apple slices

Dinner - Pasta with homemade Alfredo sauce and vegetables (did I mention my darling husband is the one who makes the yummy Alfredo sauce at our house??)

Thursday

Lunch - Leftover pasta with homemade Alfredo sauce and veggies, apple slices

Dinner - n/a (bowling league night)

Friday

Lunch - Turkey sandwiches on wheat bread, applesauce, carrot chips

Dinner - Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole (made ahead & frozen)

Oh man...I am hungry again just reading this! Must be time for some more green beans :-)

Want more meal ideas? NEED more meal ideas? Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie, where hundreds of bloggers link up their weekly/monthly meal plans each Monday morning. Just make sure you're not hungry when you start browsing!

So I Had This Shirt...

2011-04-05T09:22:00.008-05:00

We'd come to a face off. I love this shirt - the colors, the pattern, the soft material...but not the cut. The cut that shows off waaay too much of my cleavage to be appropriate. I am someone's mother, after all. Plus the sleeves are too short to be worn to work (shows my tattoo, which is distracting for some of my little special needs friends). I know the first thing you're probably thinking - layer! - but I am too much of a hot flasher to make that work, especially considering we live in DFW. There ain't no summer like a hot, humid, Texas summer, let me tell you! But back to the face off: This shirt was hanging in my closet, unworn, ill fitting, and making a mockery of my supposed decluttering mission! What could I do?

Upcycling is the answer, friends, and so that is exactly what I did. My first thought was to turn it into a tunic, like mid-thigh length. I had this printed cotton left over from a mock dance blouse I sewed back in December to be used for a fit model:

A little mis-matchy, yes, but that's how I roll. I did grow up in Oregon, after all ;-)

First thing is first. I tried on the shirt and figured out a good level for the new, empire-style waist to be. Measuring from the bottom with a ruler, I marked all the way around with a Sharpie. Yep, we like to keep it classy around here!

If you are bra-cup well endowed, as I am, you may want to mark the back an inch or so higher than the front. That leaves some extra room for the girls without making the back hang low. Here's what it looked like with the line drawn:

Next, I cut off the bottom of the shirt, folded the bottom band in half and sliced it into two pieces. Can you guess what those pieces would become? That's right, sleeves of a work-appropriate length!

Here is the "new" top for the tunic, complete with the sleeves. I didn't do anything fancy with them, just turned, tacked and sewed them on the hem of the existing cap sleeves.

Just as a I got to the point where I was ready to attach my mis-matchy cotton, I got swept up in another sewing project. Driving one of our little teenage friends home from church, we swung by a garage sale (I know - dangerous!!!) and I happened upon a cast-iron room divider with absolutely hideous fabric panels on it. Price? $1. Unfortunately, I happened to have $1 on me (this is another reason I don't generally carry cash), so I was unable to say no to the gorgeous thing. Aah! I love it!!

Just so you don't think I've gone completely over the edge, I did have a use in mind for the screen. Mr. Make It Happen and I have an ongoing disagreement over the use of windows and sunlight in our apartment. I like to have the blinds open during the day, as I find the natural light energizing and it cuts down on the electric bill. He is, apparently, part vampire, and finds sunlight to be unpleasant indoors. He also dislikes having the neighbors see into our apartment, which is unfortunately one of the side effects of having a first floor apartment. I decided to try this screen out in front of the living room window, in order to have some privacy for him without giving up my sunlight. Here's how that's working for us, two weeks in:

As I'd said, the fabric panels currently on the screen were ugly: beige, scratchy, worn - yuck! Luckily, the velcro at the top and bottom were in great shape, so I was able to rip that off and reuse it with the pleated panels I made (shown above). I had a king-size flat sheet from Freecycle sitting in the utility closet, just waiting to be used, and I loved the color with the black iron frame. Because it's so sunny today (love it!!!), it's hard to see, but it is actually burgundy.

So after finishing the screen panels, I had just enough burgundy cotton left to make the skirt of a dress for my upcycled shirt, which I was planning to tunic-fy. What do you think?

I linked this post to Tip Junkie's Tip Me Tuesday post!

Road Trip!

2011-04-01T10:20:00.003-05:00

Man, there are few thing Mr. Make It Happen and I love more than a good ol' road trip! Unfortunately, he doesn't get to come on this one, since he is still teaching Saturday School in preparation for TAKS (Fellow Texans, please vote: Do you think standardized testing will be less stressful, more stressful, or about the same once the new STARS test rolls out?). So the Monkey Boy and I are hitching a ride with another dance family. Did I mention they have two dancers, both girls, one 6 and one 5? Oh, yes, this is going to be an awesome trip to San Antonio, and I may finally be able to answer the age-old question: When equally matched (3 adults vs. 3 small people), who will come out psychologically on top after being in a vehicle together for 5 or so hours? Hmmm...definitely something to ponder!

I'm almost packed (which is good, considering I need to leave the house in T-40 minutes to pick up Monkey and head up to meet our ride at their house) and the haul includes 3 bags of dance costumes & gear (Highland is a high-maintenance sport!), 1 overnight bag, 1 in-car entertainment bag (coloring books & markers & DVDs & magazines & iPods, oh my!), 3 camping chairs, and 1 stuffed-to-the-brim snacks & drinks bag. I believe in overpacking, even if the trip is less than two days - we have a performance in Dallas Sunday afternoon for Tartan Day, so a full weekend was not an option! Personally, I am looking forward to plugging in my iPod, opening up a trashy magazine, leaning back, relaxing, and NOT DRIVING!!! Wish us luck :-D

Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-03-29T15:18:00.007-05:00

My sister recently found out that she is allergic to eggs. Since I have multiple food allergies myself, I wasn't shocked by this news, but it did get me thinking about baking and cooking. Add in 3 bananas that had been sitting a little too long on our kitchen counter, and voila! A tasty recipe for egg-free banana chocolate chip muffins. I made them mini-size and maaaaybe had to sample a couple just now. You know, for quality control ;-)

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup soy milk
3 mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
crushed walnuts to taste
chocolate chips to taste

Directions

1) Sift the first five (dry) ingredients together in a large bowl

2) Cut in the softened butter until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal

3) In a smaller bowl, blend the milk, bananas and vanilla

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix lightly until incorporated

5) Add walnuts & chocolate chips, stir gently

6) Fill greased muffin tins about halfway up

7) Bake at 325 F for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

8) Allow to cool, remove from tins

I was surprised how light and moist these mini-muffins turned out without eggs! I'm going to freeze most of these and see how they work for quick, weekday breakfasts. Also considering the addition of oats to the next batch.

Meal Planning - March 21

2011-03-20T21:12:00.005-05:00

Well, Spring Break is over...waaah! I know, I know, most adults don't get school holidays off. If it makes you feel any better, I'm a contractor, so a week off work also means a week without pay! The great thing about the break was I had time to do some freeze-ahead cooking and try out some new recipes. Here's what we're planning on eating this week:

Monday

Lunch - Turkey Sandwiches

Dinner - Grilled Chicken Fajita Pasta (made ahead & frozen)

Tuesday

Lunch - PB&J

Dinner - Chicken & Broccoli Casserole (made ahead & frozen)

Wednesday

Lunch - Turkey Sandwiches

Dinner - Meatball Soup (made ahead & frozen)

Thursday

Lunch - Leftovers

Dinner - n/a (bowling league night)

Friday

Lunch - PB&J

Dinner - Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole (made ahead & frozen)

What's on your menu this week? Need more ideas? Swing by I'm an Organizing Junkie, where hundreds of bloggers (including yours truly) link up each week for Meal Plan Monday. Gotta love letting other ladies find new, yummy recipes for you!

Sewing Update

2011-03-20T10:17:00.002-05:00

Results of yesterday's sewing efforts. All of my phalanges remain intact despite the efforts. Sorry the photo is so dim. It was 1 am when I finished, LOL!

Don't Sew Your Finger

2011-03-19T18:16:00.010-05:00

A couple weeks ago I made two little blouses for a couple of our youngest dance students. They were the same basic idea as the blouse I made for myself last summer to go with my kilt but, you know, tiny. It was fun (I love sewing for girls!) and I got to flex my pattern-making skills for the sleeves, which was cool. I'd raided the Lost & Found at our dance school for little leotards and tank tops to use as the bases (don't worry, it was kosher - everything had been there for about six months and was about to go to Goodwill). The eyelet for the sleeves was left over from my own blouse, the elastic for the sleeves from a dress I made last year and the interfacing (for the base of the dickie) left over from our great jig outfit sew-a-thon back in December. The only thing I had to buy was the eyelet for the dickie, which came to a grand total of $5. Not bad for two blouses!

So this week was Spring Break and, feeling somewhat proud of myself for doing so well with the first two blouses, I decided to buckle down and transform the remaining three base leotards/crop tops into blouses, assembly-line style. All was going well until sleeve #5 (of 6) when something bad happened. No matter how many times I have been asked exactly *how* it happened, I really can't explain it, even though I was looking at my work the whole time. All I know is that one minute I was sewing in a sleeve and the next minute I had sewed my left pointer finger to the machine.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's what I said in my head, anyway. Out loud, it wasn't quite so savory. Here's a lesson that may help you in the future: If/when you manage to sew your hand to your sewing machine, your first instinct will be to yank your hand away. DO NOT YANK YOUR HAND AWAY. Turn off the machine (I remembered this part) and use the manual wheel to remove the needle, as painful as that sounds. Yanking your hand away results in breaking the needle, which then sticks out the bottom of your finger, gushing blood everywhere, and you will be forced to remove it using tweezers. Not nearly as much fun as tweezing your eyebrows, let me tell you. Then you will go to the doctor's office and find out, although you managed to avoid the fingernail and bone (woo hoo!) there is now a small piece of needle embedded deep inside your finger, much like a metal splinter. They will also inform you that for the next few days/weeks/months your finger will hurt as your body encapsulates it and attempts to expel the foreign body - not really a woo hoo situation. Then they will offer you a prescription for oxycodone. Okay, that one brought back happy post-wisdom tooth extraction memories for me and did result in a teeny-tiny woo hoo. Just a little one, though, 'cause I was still crying from the finger pain.

Here's a picture of my poor, splinted Highland hand on the way to dance class Wednesday night. Don't worry, I wasn't driving *and* taking pictures - my brave husband played chauffeur for Monkey Boy and me, since prescription drugs and driving don't mix very safely, especially in the crazy rush hour traffic that encompasses DFW!

Luckily for you, I didn't have the presence of mind to photo-document the entire incident, but here is a lovely picture of my finger roughly 24 hours after sewing it. Don't sew your finger, it's not nearly as satisfying as sewing pretty little girl clothes and dance costumes.

Now that I've shared the first really important piece of wisdom I've picked up in my 30's, I'm off to finish those blouses. Yes, you read that correctly. I may have almost lost a finger on Wednesday, but I haven't lost my spirit, and Saturday afternoon is feeling like an awesome time to jump back on that metaphorical horse. Let's go, Susie Singer machine!

Saying Yes

2011-03-16T06:53:00.008-05:00

I am feeling a little melancholy this morning, let me start with that forewarning. I have another respiratory tract infection, and while this one overall hasn't been as bad as previous illnesses of this school year, I have been having trouble sleeping and been coughing myself awake in the wee hours of the morning. Boo. If you know nothing else about me, know this: I love to sleep, I need more sleep than the average bear, and I'm not much good at anything or nice to be around if I don't get my sleep!

So here I am in the dining room/office, trying to keep myself occupied and do something *useful* without waking up my boys. I read a blog post several months ago (for shame - I can't remember where!) about habits (maybe secrets?) of effective mothers (or housewives? or women?). Anyhow, there was one tip there that really stuck with me, even if the exact wording didn't: To be effective, one must say yes where others say no.

I can't tell you how this has helped with my tidying routines around our home. As I pass small messes, perhaps a piece of dirty clothing that needs to go in a hamper, a piece of trash that is ready for the can, a dirty dish, etc., my knee-jerk, reactive thought used to be something along the lines of, "Okay, seriously, I know that the husband and Monkey Boy have seen this and didn't pick it up. Really? Do I have to pick up after them like a maid? Unbelievable....aargh!" I was so busy being irritated by the fact that one of the other members of the household were aware of this mess and didn't care enough to deal with it that I didn't stop to consider how quick and easy and rewarding it would be for me to just pick it up myself.

Now, I'm not saying that I pick up after my boys without fail or protest. However, when encountered by these situations lately, instead of getting irritated, I stop and think. Let me say yes to dealing with this mess when others have said no. Let me pick this up and put it in its proper place for my own benefit and sanity. Let me appreciate that God has blessed me with a beautiful family who makes messes, because they are my joy and my heart. Let me be effective in dealing with the little messes so they don't turn into huge, all-day cleaning type messes. Let me say yes where others say no.

PraiseBaby DVD Giveaway Winners!

2011-03-07T17:08:00.013-06:00

Thank you for all the entries in my first giveaway, which was for PraiseBaby DVDs and had two winners. You can read all about the giveaway here. Now, for the fun part: announcing the winners!

The first DVD, Praises & Smiles, goes to Lloyd Family with entry #15! The winning entry reads, "i LOVE the song "Open the Eyes of My Heart" on Praises and Smiles (and many others) and would love to share my love for this song with my boys". Lloyd Family isn't yet a follower at Make It Happen Mama, but I'm hoping she'll join us soon! You can check out her blog here.

The second DVD, God of Wonders, goes to Elizabeth with entry #20! Her winning entry was, quite simply, "I'm following on GFC." And I'm so glad you are, Elizabeth!

Thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway and I'm looking forward to hosting another one soon! Any requests for types of prizes? It may be another digital media prize, as Monkey Boy has been making noises about going through his CDs and weeding out the "baby ones"...anyone out in the blogosphere need some lullaby CDs? Check back for more details soon!

Meal Planning - March 7

2011-03-07T07:33:00.006-06:00

I said on the phone with my Dad last Monday, "I'm actually glad February is over, because maybe this string of people dying will be over." Yup, wrong. My husband's uncle passed away unexpectedly last Thursday, so we are making preparations to travel to Houston mid-week for his funeral. I'm hoping to convince my mother-in-law to come back up to DFW with us for at least a few days afterward. Since we have Spring Break next week, we could spend some unexpected quality time with her and Monkey Boy would be *overjoyed* to show her his room, take her for walks, etc. My husband suspects she will be anxious to get home (Washington state), however, so we're not counting on anything.

The marathon listening sessions continue for me, coming up on the third funeral in four weeks. By the grace of God, I'm going to figure this all out to my own satisfaction, and figure out how to say for myself, it it well with my soul.

Here is our abbreviated meal plan for the week:

Monday

Lunch - Leftover Fajitas, green salad, apple slices

Dinner - Cheeseburgers, french fries, carrot chips (Daddy is grilling out - yay!)

Tuesday

Lunch - PB&J on wheat bread (no crusts), yogurt, carrot chips & Ranch dressing

Dinner - Lasagna Soup (made ahead & frozen)

Wednesday

Lunch - Turkey & cheddar on wheat bread (no crusts), applesauce, green salad

Dinner - On the road to Houston!

What are you eating this week? Need more ideas? Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie's Meal Plan Monday, where I, along with hundreds of other bloggers, link up my meal plan for the week each Monday. Make it a great week!

Meal Planning - February 28

2011-02-28T07:28:00.008-06:00

I can barely believe February is nearly over! Not to be a negative nelly, but this month has really presented more challenges than I'd expected, including three funerals. My hymn of the month has been Chris Rice's version of "It is Well with my Soul". If you haven't heard it, allow me to provide you with a nice video:

So now, on to food for the week! Believe it or not, we did have a meal plan last week, it was just so crazy around here that about Wednesday I gave up trying to post it, LOL!

Monday

Lunch - Turkey & cheddar sandwiches on french bread, applesauce, carrot sticks

Dinner - Cheeseburger soup (made ahead & frozen), green beans, rolls

Tuesday

Lunch - Enchiladas, apple slices, chips

Dinner - Spaghetti w/meat sauce (sauce made ahead & frozen), garlic bread

Wednesday

Lunch - Leftover spaghetti, carrot sticks, orange wedges

Dinner - Mexican soup (made ahead & frozen; I make this with chicken, not turkey), chips, mixed veggies

Thursday

Lunch - PB&J, apple slices, yogurt

Dinner - n/a (bowling league night)

Friday

Lunch - Turkey & cheddar on wheat bread, applesauce, carrot sticks

Dinner - BBQ chicken (prepared ahead & frozen) from the slow cooker on hamburger buns, coleslaw

Also, as a special treat, my dear husband has announced that he will be making baby burgers on Saturday night - yum! Now that we have entered TAKs season (state-wide standardized testing, for those of y'all who don't live in Texas) the poor thing is teaching 6 days a week instead of 5 for the next six weeks or so, so anything we can do to make his half-weekend a little better, we do. Let me tell you, kids, your teachers don't like Saturday school any better than you do!

Need some more meal ideas? Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie's Meal Plan Monday, where hundreds of other bloggers link of their meal plans for the week. That's where I've gotten some of our family favorite recipes!

Giveaways Galore!

2011-02-27T16:44:00.007-06:00

I'm in a giveaway kind of mood today - how about you? I'm putting together a new page on the blog, called "My List of Giveaway Linkys", which will provide you with links to all of the giveaway linkys I can find. So, you know, I have to enter a few of the current giveaways I find myself, LOL!

So far today, I'm hoping to win:

A $200 Zappos.com gift card at Coffee on the Patio

A $30 gift card to EdensFantasy.com at Xmas Dolly

A $25 gift code to Organized Living at Life Is a Sand Castle

An Easy Lunch Boxes set at Mama to 4 Blessings

Have you entered any giveaways lately?

Morning Musings

2011-02-27T08:53:00.005-06:00

Waking up in the morning is such a joy, don't you think? It's a bright new day, God has granted you breath and life, and for a few minutes of sleepy afterglow there are seemingly limitless possibilities to what you can accomplish. Love it! In reality, sadly, we rarely can accomplish everything on our To Do list (or lists, if you're like me) in one day. But when you first open your eyes, you are a superhero. I love that feeling :-)

Do You Lenten Fast?

2011-02-25T14:49:00.008-06:00

Some of you may know that last year I did a personal Facebook fast during the season of Lent. It went well, and I didn't have nearly as many "cravings" as I expected. This year, in light of the medical challenges and weight gain I am handling, I think it may be time for a sugar fast. Now, let me be clear: I will be eating fruit. This sugar fast will deal more with processed sugars, such as candies, sodas, ice cream, chocolate, etc. and yes, it breaks my sugar-loving heart to be typing this right now. But! I had a meds check this week and was please do find out I have lost 5 pounds since my last visit. Yes, weight loss is slow going, but it is also necessary and (as some television commercial has been touting recently) naturally reinforcing to fit into clothes. What commercial IS that? Yeah, don't remember...good for thought, not for marketing, apparently! So, yes, refined sugar.

I know that it will be hard. I know that I will be cranky initially as the sugar cravings get stronger. I also know that, in the long run, this will be a change for the better. I know that my body is healthier and I have more energy when I don't eat sugar. I want to be strong and healthy so I'm around for a long time to watch my Monkey Boy grow up and so I can keep on dancing and teaching and therapizing (as my husband refers to my job in verb form). I want this.

Besides (this is the self-shaming part), if Christ can suffer and die on a cross for my sins, I can refrain from stuffing my face with sweets. I'm just saying...

Do you Lenten fast? What will you be sacrificing this year?

Meal Planning - February 14

2011-02-14T18:16:00.008-06:00

I know I'm a little late with meal planning today but, you know, it is my 30th birthday today. Since I'm entering a new decade and all, I guess it's okay to cut myself a little slack ;-) If you need more ideas for meals, drop by I'm an Organizing Junkie and see what literally hundreds of other bloggers have linked up this week! Here's what we'll be eating:

Monday

Lunch - Turkey on ciabatta, apple slices, carrot sticks (and might I say, this lunch was yummy!)

Dinner - Lasagna Soup (made ahead & frozen; I just added the noodles & cheese and the whole thing has 5 more minutes to simmer...I'm drooling from the smell!)

Tuesday

Lunch - Leftover enchiladas, string cheese, orange

Dinner - BBQ Chicken (prepared ahead & frozen; will go in the slow cooker Tuesday morning)

Wednesday

Lunch - Leftover BBQ Chicken sandwiches, apple slices, yogurt

Dinner - Potato Soup (made ahead & frozen)

Thursday

Lunch - Turkey on wheat bread, string cheese, carrot sticks

Dinner - n/a (bowling league night)

Friday

Lunch - School Lunches

Dinner - Spaghetti & meat sauce, garlic bread

Next weekend we will hopefully have a date night to celebrate my birthday (we've found it's pretty difficult to get a table anywhere on the 14th!). I will unfortunately be attending the funeral of the owner of our dance studio's daughter; she died last Saturday, at the age of 38, from complications of H1N1. It happened so suddenly and she was so healthy, we're all still in shock. Rest in peace, Mindy. We're all dancing for you.

The Big 3-0

2011-02-14T08:01:00.001-06:00

That's right, folks. The twenties are officially over today!

PraiseBaby DVD Giveaway - 2 Winners!

2011-02-11T09:33:00.011-06:00

In honor of my blog now having 10 followers (okay, I'm impressed by that, LOL) I'm hosting my first giveaway: two DVDs from The PraiseBaby Collection(TM): Music for Baby's Spirit and Mind. Two winners will be randomly selected from all entries, with each winner receiving one DVD. I love this collection of DVDs! Monkey Boy spent many happy hours watching/listening to them as an infant and the music is so good that I used to put them on to listen to while doing housework, long after Monkey outgrew them. I am so excited for these lightly-used DVDs to move on to new homes where they will be cherished and appreciated!

"Praises and Smiles" is the first release in The PraiseBaby Collection. The DVD case describes it as "the first developmentally appropriate DVD series that creates a nurtuing environment for your baby's spiritual and intellectual development." I've described it to a friend as "like Christian Baby Einstein, with far less irritating instrumentation", and I'm standing by that description! Special features include options of listening to all songs with female lead vocals, child lead vocals or instrumental only.

"God of Wonders" is the second DVD in the series, also combining popular praise and worship songs with images of children enjoying God's creation, colorful animation and real world objects. The same options for listening to the tracks in three different formats are included. You and your baby will love experiencing these DVDs together!

How to Enter

First Entry (mandatory) - Visit The Praise Baby web site and tell me in a comment to this post which song on "Praises and Smiles" or "God of Wonders" you are most excited about bringing into your baby's life (1 entry)

Additional Entries (eligible for these after completing the First Entry)

Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (1 entry)

Comment on another of my blog posts (1 entry - please leave a link to the post)

Blog about this giveaway (2 entries - please leave a link to the post)

Comment with your own experiences with The PraiseBaby Collection (1 entry)

Winners will be chosen at random on Saturday, March 5, 2011 and announced after winners are contacted and confirmed. Good luck!

You must complete the First Entry in order to be eligible for Additional Entries. Please include your e-mail address on all entries so I can contact you if you win. Invalid entries will be discounted. This giveaway is approved by the former baby-sized Monkey Boy (pictured above)!

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by me. Big House Kids has no idea who I am :-)

For more information from Big House Kids on these products, please visit their web site.

Inclement Weather Casserole

2011-02-10T07:25:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we had another Inclement Weather Day here in DFW. Now, I heard most districts will be filing waiver applications with the state to get Days 3 & 4 excused so we don't have to have extra days of school in June. What Day 5 (in less than two weeks) does to that plan, I have no idea! I figured it doesn't help to worry about such things, so instead I decided to make a yummy casserole for lunch yesterday, since we were all three home unexpectedly. We had some leftover chicken and my husband requested something more Mexican-tasting than Italian, so here's what I came up with:

Ingredients

Diced, cooked chicken breast (I had about 2 cups)
Cooked noodles (I used a combination of shells & rotini, about 2 cups uncooked)
Can of cream of chicken soup (the small size is fine)
Can of diced tomatoes or a couple fresh tomatoes, diced
Can of green chiles
3/4 chopped onions (I happened to have fresh on hand, but you could use frozen, no problem)
Can of black beans
A couple handfuls of cheddar cheese (more or less depending on your preference)
Half a jar of salsa (again, more or less depending on your preference)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350ish (we are apartment-dwellers, so temperatures are sketchy on our oven)

2) In a large pot sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, saute the onions until tender

3) Stir in the cream of chicken soup, salsa, and diced chicken and simmer until heated throughout

4) Add a handful of cheese and simmer until incorporated

5) Stir in the black beans

6) Add black pepper to taste

7) Layer chicken mixture with cooked noodles in a casserole dish that has been prepared with non-stick cooking spray

8) Bake uncovered until thoroughly heated (about 20-30 minutes)

Makes about 6 servings

All of us really enjoyed this casserole. Monkey Boy ate a big serving without any fussing, which is unusual, lately. This is definitely going to make it into the freeze-ahead recipe rotation. Yum!