Thriving on neglect.

I can't believe how well this is doing...

I ignore it and it starts putting out new blooms. I love that. I do think I need to repot it and remove some dead roots, though. A little fertilizer might help. too. The leaves aren't looking too hot. This is my third orchid. I do not have a good track record with these lovelies. :)

These, on the other hand need a little more attention: 

As do these:

The tomatillos, peppers and tomatoes (not shown) seem to be managing quite nicely, despite my on-again-off-again watering habits. They wilt. I water. They wilt. I water. They might fare a little better once I get them in the ground and my son can have free reign on them with the water gun. He gets to attack something, other than his sister, and my plants get watered. Sounds like a good deal to me!

Overly ambitious.

Perhaps a goal of 30 minutes of sewing a day was a tad much for this mother of two. :) However, I did sew some this week, which is more than usual! I think I'll give myself a little grace and be satisfied with sewing more regularly. Things do come up, you know. Sometimes things like karate tournaments, visiting family, and helping out a friend take precedence. As well they should.

So, this week sewing was not a priority. But I was able to use my machine (a gift from my mom) to help out a friend/youth group kid/neighbor. It's prom season, folks! She needed a dress hemmed and I was available. Do you have a rolled hem foot? If you don't, you should. It makes jobs like this much more fun.

It is also much easier to do this way than to meticulously fold and iron the entire hem and then top stitch it. Hand stitching would even take longer. And this method turns out so nice and neat, too!

Just for kicks (pun intended), here are a couple of photo of my kiddos at their karate tournament. They both placed 1st in their divisions!

I've just begun.

So, I didn't start exactly on May 1. But, that's ok. :) I should look at my calendar before I start setting goals for myself and publishing them! I had an enjoyable Friday night and Saturday with about 30 women from my church at a retreat. It was a nice time away from the kids and husband for reflection and fellowship with some of my best friends. I then had a birthday party to attend, which I ducked out of at 8pm and went home and promptly to bed. I was tired! 


So, this afternoon after church, I was about to start on hemming a prom dress for one of my neighbor girls when I realized I couldn't get to my sewing machine. There was an unfinished project there which only needed about 10 minutes of my attention. So, I finished it.

An "adventure bag" for my son. It's a little (ahem) large. But, that's ok. It means more stuff that he can stuff in there when we go on adventures. I asked him if he wanted something smaller and he (knowing how long it can take for me to complete a project) told me "no." Pay no attention to the mess in the background. That's just the way I work. And how my boy plays. And, yes, he is in his p.j.'s at 3 in the afternoon. He was home sick from church today due to a recurrence of his cough. And, yes, those pants are a bit short (they were a Christmas gift from me 2 years ago) but he still loves them. And they have become very soft with repeated washings, which is very important to a child with sensitive skin. :) I love flannel. 

Speaking of flannel, that's what he chose for the flap of his bag.

Here's the back:

The only thing I purchased for this project was the strapping. The rest came from my stash. 

Technically, this was not located on my own version of Mt. Fabric (see previous post), but it counts, right? Of course it does.

For those of you who may be wondering. I did not use a pattern. I made it up as I went along. I don't even think I used a ruler at any point. I just eyeballed and ripped. That could be why it's a bit over sized for my son, ya think? Perhaps if I would have taken the time to measure the fabric, or at least him...

T minus 2 days.

Hey there, friends! If you are still there... (sheepish grimace)

This whole grieving thing is pretty strange. I just forget stuff all the time. Like blogging. Doctor appointments. But, I'm doing much better these days and trying to adjust to my new "normal." By the way, I won $100 in that contest! How about that?! Dad would be proud.

Today, my son is home from school due to a nasty cough. So, I get to stay home until 2:15 when it is time to pick up my daughter. Hooray! More than 2 hours at home at one time! My son is relaxing on the sofa watching Transformers Animated and thoroughly enjoying himself. After making sure he was comfortable and outfitted with snacks, a water bottle and the necessary remote controls, I decided to begin the process of unearthing my bedroom. Once again. I have to do it periodically. I'm good at organizing. Not so good at maintaining that organization. Thus the periodical part.

So, I managed to get my futon cleared off. Well, most of it just got transferred to my bed for a more detailed going-through later. Preferably before I hit the hay tonight. I have always had trouble focusing. I flit from one task to another without really completing anything. The curse of a right-brainer. But I digress. See what I mean? Back to original thought: While I was in the process of returning some of the inhabitants of the futon to their rightful and proper place, I decided that I really should do myself and my husband a favor by finding a new home for the pile of fabric in our office. Now that the weather is getting nicer, it would be nice to be able to access the back door. To possess the ability of walking through the office without tripping over anything would be nice as well. Aren't I thoughtful? :)

After collecting all of the fabric from said office and other various corners of my home, this is what I now have sitting in my bedroom, looming oppressively and mocking me:

And I have just realized that this isn't even the whole of it. I just spied a bag of scraps waiting to be repurposed in the corner of the office. Rats. The main pile, shown here, is 6 feet wide. 4 feet tall. That's a lot of fabric. I'm not nearly as accomplished as my mom, who harbored Mt. Fabric in her basement for years. :) We daughters gave her quite a hard time about it. It's an illness. Genetic, I'm sure. Grandma has it, too. And Mom mocked her. See? You shouldn't mock your mother. Look what can happen to you. 

While I know that my collection is not nearly as expansive as some, it is just not practical for me to have so much in my itty bitty home. Someday I'll give you the brief tour. But not now. It's a wreck. Because I'm focusing on unearthing (well, not anymore) my bedroom. 

Anyway, I need to get rid of this stuff. I'm tired of unfinished projects and clutter. So now it is all moved to a central location, where I can't ignore it and must see it when I rise and when I'm on my way off to dreamland. I already de-stashed last year. I only kept what I loved and couldn't bear to part with. Or that I had specific projects in mind for. I also added some new things from the clearance bins of fabric/hobby stores that I haunt occasionally and  that I rescued from Mom's de-stashing efforts. Another illness that I have inherited from my mom and grandma...we are a crazy bunch, I tell you! But we are fun! 

So, finally, I get to main point of this post. (Sometimes it's fun to ramble...) Beginning May 1, I'm going to begin my efforts to craft this pile into oblivion. Much of it will be gifts. Some donations. Some will be sold to raise funds for favorite charitable organizations. I promise lots of pics. I'm not going to do one of those crazy one-project-a-day type deals. I'm too realistic for that and I have too many other responsibilities to my family, church, etc. But, my goal is to work on something for a minimum of 30 minutes a day until it's all gone. And I will post progress regularly. Probably not on weekends. But you get the idea.

Then it's on to my yarn stash. Oh my.

P.S. Dear Mom, I'm sorry for the grammar mishaps that occur throughout my posts. I'm sure the English teacher in you is cringing. Sometimes incomplete sentences are just more effective in communicating my thoughts. Because, like I said, it's hard for me to complete anything, fully. There I go again...

Ahhh.

Hello friends! I've been taking it easy, focusing on what is important and letting go of things not completely necessary to my well-being. This means that eating came before blogging. :)

This morning I walked the kids to school. The sun was out, it wasn't too terribly cold...and we weren't running late. On the way there, I realized that I forgot Aidan's permission slip for his field trip - again. It was due Monday. Oops. Rather than drive the envelope back to school, which would have been quicker, I chose to slow down, enjoy the sunshine, and take another walk. I love time to myself. I love to be able to hear myself think. I love to just be in the moment without external pressures. I have found that I like to just go with the flow sometimes, which is a true sign of personal growth for me. I am a bit of a control freak, peppered with a creative spirit. I guess I'm hard to label. :)

But, my creative spirit has been itching to be unleashed these last few weeks. So I've let it take over for a while. I've been doing some journaling.

I've been enjoying a plant that needed a new home.

I've been spending time playing with and photographing my kiddos.

We went on a field trip with the husband to the Morton Arboretum - so fun! Cold! But fun!

I've been making things.

The boy has been making things, too. :) A special girl will be receiving this gift.

Yes, he made it. He formed the wire pendant himself, chose the beads and strung it all. All I did was cut the memory wire and turn the ends so the poor girl wouldn't poke her neck.

I'm content. I've satisfied my urge to write and share - so much more to share! But I must be moving on now. I do believe it is time to do some laundry. I guess the responsible side is beginning to rear it's head again. That's a good thing, too.

check it out!

@kellymooreclark is giving away a bag!  Go enter to win! http://kellymoorebagblog.com/

Long time, no see!

Hello there, friends! I haven't dropped off of the face of the earth, although it may seem that way. The chaos of Christmas was followed by an unexpected and sudden decline in my dad's health. For those of you who do not know, Dad passed away on January 12 after a 10 month battle with pancreatic cancer.

I'm so grateful for the time we had with him before he passed away. Although he is and will be greatly missed, I find tremendous comfort in knowing that I will see him again when it is time for me to join him in heaven.

I've not done any crafting or photo-taking to speak of since December. I've mostly been spending my free time doting on my kids or reading my Bible. Both of which I know would please my dad. :)

I did take one picture with my iPhone while Dad was in the hospital, which I have submitted for a photo contest. The contest runs through February 15 - if you like it, please take a few moments to vote! Here is the link:

http://contest.adorama.com/entries?sort=user#18837

And here is the photo:

I'm getting the itch to create, so more posts soon! I've been craft/art-free for far too long...