Halu-Halo

Making my list, and checking it twice

For a devoted list maker such as myself, the coming of the Holidays is another reason to create a massive plan of attack.  There is just something about writing down every step of the adventure....the documentation of progress is almost as exciting as the mission's completion.  

Hence, I made quite a few lists yesterday to get started on, and as with every year, will post them on my refrigerator door to remind, inspire and kick my butt into gear.

This afternoon, my Army community has been saddened and torn apart.  It is enough that we have our everyday struggles in our military town: the separation of families and the fear of the unknown...and yet we still have to grapple with violence in our own neighborhood that has previously given the facade that we are, in our own ground, safe from harm.

So, this evening I made another list for myself. 

I am thankful for:

1. A life where I have been able to choose.

2. Falling in love, five times over.

3. Knowing I have made a difference, somehow.

4. Being able to hear my husband's voice this morning even though he is light-years away, and being able to hold my children tonight.

This last list I am checking twice.  

The ultimate WIP, my cup runneth over

Yes!  I made it back to this precious place.  I've missed writing, I've missed creating, I've missed sharing, I've missed reading.  It is amazing how much this space, this Internet, and the relationships I have made and grown with it, is such a meaningful part of my life.

My cup has runneth over this Fall Season.  All of the children are now in school and yet I am there with them often volunteering.  I try to catch small moments with friends during the day, and when I can, I try to invest a few stitches here and there with my needles or with the machine.  

Hmmm, yes, I know...it's slow going, but I have decided that so long as I am achieving each row, I am doing well!  

But see, what I have been working on these days has been this - 

 This April babe has been keeping me on my toes...from sickness to tiredness, and of course the occasional emotional outburst :) .  But I am more thrilled than I can ever describe, and our family is greatly anticipating the spring!

So, thank you to those who have emailed me, and who have thought of me.  I am alright...more than alright, in fact!  I should be coming out of the woodwork now...and hopefully with things to show for Christmas! 

Happy FALL Y'ALL!!!

Coming out of the covers

Is that really daylight out there?  I'm feeling like a vampire these days, coming out into the moonlight after a long day of rest...but instead I'm a worn out mom coming out of this cocoon of a home from days of taking temperatures, washing washcloths, disinfecting surfaces and cooking and finding ways of putting good stuff into my children's mouths so they can battle the bug.

No, it wasn't h1n1, but a bad strain of the flu nonetheless.  And while I am usually a very relaxed person when it comes to fevers, I remained on my toes as it lasted days long....much longer than what I am used to.  I am truly just grateful that my children are great patients, and that I am a nurse....I put my triage brain to work to relieve the panic that sometimes ensued in my mind for these loves of mine.  And to think that this is just the start of the flu season.

Alas, despite the days of being home all day with at least one sick one, I don't have any crafting to show.  I just read, panicked, and read, and worried, held hands and disinfected,..."drink more water, babe,"  "one more bite", "try to sleep."

I hope that this is it for a while.

And I hope that your families are staying well...

Sharing is for Grown-ups too

It's been three days since school has started, and I still don't know quite know what to do with myself.  It is really strange for me to be alone for so long without at least one of my children with me.  I vaccilate between inundating myself with a project and then sitting around for minutes just reveling in ---> silence.

This is a strange transition indeed.  Now, I don't have a reason not to get the weeds pulled, or all the laundry folded...nor should I have stacks of paper bills to be filed away...or (oh no) I can get all of my craft projects in gear.  I am a little intimidated with all of this pressure.  I swear I will be productive, I swear!!!

So, to break the ice, here are a couple of blocks I sent in to the Quilt 12 Together Group (a quilting bee from Ravelry).  This is going to Dawn in New York!

 

And a swap quilt I received from a Doll Quilt swap on Ravelry as well.  

 

Don't you love it!?  It is just perfect on this wall.

How life as opened up with the Internets...I can't imagine not having so many cafty folks to share quilt blocks with, to read about, and to admire what they've made...and I don't have to look too far.  

I'm off to eat bon bons, clean out my car.  I hope you have a great day!

Settling In and Gearing Up

In all of the chaos of dear Sugar's temporary absence from the family, I neglected to show a quilt I had finished about a week ago.  And, much to my delight and to Hubby's surprise, this one actually is for us.  I *am* really trying to ensure that I slip in projects for ourselves or our home in the midst of making for others, but I have this crazy running list of *late* things to be done. 

(and isn't Christmas just a few months down the road?  I know, I know!  I'll won't say another word!)

 

I couldn't get the picture much lighter without washing out the fabrics...but this quilt uses Bernartex Samsara fabrics.  I really find that there is a true cross of Asian and Middle Eastern in this, which I love.  I bought the fat quarter pack from Hancock's of Paducah.  

I used AmandaJean's method of piecing the zig-zag pattern.

I had initially thought I had wanted these fabrics to hang on my living room wall,  But after choosing the paint for the walls, Samsara was just perfect.  

I used Amy Butler Solids to frame the front and piece the back, as well as to bind it.

Here it is hanging in my cozy family room ...I'm wating for some Hang-Ups so that it will have some kind decor in hanging that's not too high maintenance, but until then...this way will have to do.

(You can ignore the game board pieces on the floor.  This is what happens when Mama wants to take a picture of the living room in the middle of playtime.  "Just push it in the hallway!" I said ever so sweetly, ha!)

I still have leftover fabrics and I plan to make pillows from them, and it's on my list to do!  One day, one day!

By the way, tomorrow is the first day of school for my three munchkins!  All three in school, leaving their mama to her own devices.  Maybe I'll be able to catch a few minutes to knit in my living room?  Could it be?

...then Found

If you find a bag of money in the street, would you turn it in?  If you found a stray coat stuffed with jewels, would try to find its owner?  If you came across the dog of your dreams (that is to say, that if you were a dog lover), without tags, and their presence fit right into your family, would you keep it?

I do believe that Heaven gives mighty props for honest people that return bags of money, jewels and dogs of their dreams.  

 

My girl is back, and she was brought back to me by a dog-loving human who approached her, noticing that she did not, in fact, look like a stray.  "And," he had said, "Boxers are the dog of my dreams."

Her collar had fallen by the time he brought her to his home, and he intended to bring her to the shelter later on this week.  And although Sugar had immediately made herself comfortable in her his home, he still emailed me after he saw one of my flyers.

  

When I picked her up, I noticed that it was even bittersweet for this man; he kept crouching to say goodbye to her; it was obvious he had bonded with my pup.

How could he have resisted?  This dog is special, in my opinion anyway.

But last night I slipped in a little prayer that he gets those props for bringing my Sugar back to me.

Lost

I just had my household go to bed with 2 out of 3 children crying into their pillows.  It has been a long day for us.  What started last night a simple last run out in the backyard at midnight, turned into a night of emptiness and then a day of searching.

I keep asking myself, "where could she be, and how can we get her back home?  What more can I do?" My children look to me for comfort, and all I could do tonight with them was to pray, and I told them to have faith that she is settling in another family's home, until they can get her to where we can find her. 

But I, myself, am feeling quite helpless, and feeling lost walking around this house without my shadow...I don't hear her occasional sneeze and her snoring, or her paw on my feet when I'm sitting at the computer. When I do a mental count of where everyone should be, it includes her, and I had to say to myself, in realization, that she is not here and I don't know where she is.  

Sugar is part of this family.  Please, God, take care of her tonight, and lead her to a good human who will bring her back to us.

A bright spot.

Sometimes a project takes on its own excitement.  While it may be simple and small, there's something in the process that stirs up a bit of nostalgia or ease that it practically completes itself.

Let me tell you, it was hard to let this little one go.  

 

Though we have had some record breaking heat here in Texas, and I have been spending when I can with the children next to the pool, I was able to crank this out in record time for a doll quilt swap on a Quilting Board on Ravelry.  

(Although you can take what I say with a grain of salt, because record time for me, even for a small quilt is literally, weeks.)

And yes...quilters have emerged from the soft belly of that knitting community.  Love Ravelry!  What a great space for creative inspiration!

I was able to use up little bits of my scrap fabrics, which is always so fun to do...even the white/off white fabrics are from my scrap pile, and there are visual differences in them as well.  Hopefully my swap partner will be alright with the mismatch!  I think there is a whimsical quality to it.

I used the Wonky Star Tutorial  which I had used for another project and for the Bushfire Quilt Project...and I love this effect.  The stars on white is such a bright spot!  It really, really brightened up my day.

I pieced the back and the binding with more remnants, sized 18 x 24.  And it is on its way to the Pacific Northwest, where I hope it will a bright spot in its new home.

Thanks for looking!!

How did they do it?

This weekend I tackled the enormous project of purchasing the recommended school supplies for the upcoming year.  Now with three in school, my basket filled much more quickly than I had anticipated (what is shown below is just a fraction of what we came home with), and frankly at one point when walking down the aisles to look for composition books I became overwhelmed. 

I realized that this is only the beginning of the great educational investment I would have to make for each of my children.  

Sure, my friends and I talk about it...saving for the future, planning ahead, not just for today's schooling (whether it be home, public, private, parochial), but for the many many years of filling up carts first with crayons, then with 5 subject notebooks and locker accessories, and then soon with bedding for that first college dorm.

How did my parents do it?

Every August they too filled their shopping baskets with me and my brothers' school supplies.  After the supplies came clothes shopping and then jackets for the fall.  

And of course it didn't end there...as the school year progressed there was more to give, of not just "stuff", but of time and emotion.  There were committees, events, parties, homework.  There were packed lunches and foreign language, school sports, extracurriculars.  The driving to and from, the sleepovers, the lugging of gear, and carpool lines. 

All of which, I think I can handle.  

But then came exams, applications, picking the college to go to, prom, and then soon...bye bye.  What started as every day mousy phone calls for comfort, became just a phone call once a week.   And the weekend trek home to visit with former high school friends quickly morphed into the occasional drop-in to do laundry and for that extra pocket change.

Throw in finding the future spouse and then visits home consisted of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the dropping off of dorm room stuff in between school years.

Oh my, I'm not ready for that yet.  I didn't realize that this was part of the educational investment.

I'm getting anxious just thinking about it.

Will it turn back time if I return these dang supplies?  I kept the receipt.  

New obsession {wordless Wednesday}

here's to the start of a beautiful friendship