I've read about this moment on other blogs, but it came sooner than I expected it would: Cora asked me not to write about something she said - not on Facebook or anywhere on the computer, she specified. She knew she had said something funny - she meant it to be funny - but she said she would be embarrassed if anyone other than me and her dad knew about it.
However, she gave me full permission to share her idea that we make our family Advent wreath out of teeth. Which, she is sure, is what the Tooth Fairy does.
She also is hoping to spread the word about next weekend being Eat New Foods weekend. They don't have to be entirely new; a new preparation will also fit the bill. For example, as I have never served poached eggs, they would count as a new food. They are, in fact, first on her list of foods we should eat. New Foods weekend will be a challenge for us - we are at a disadvantage geographically, for one thing. And while it would make it easier if we included the vast realm of foods we have never served by choice (cheese in a can, shelf-ready bacon, frozen breakfast pastries...), I am not prepared to open that can of worms. (By coincidence, something else we have never eaten.)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
A sample list of projects
Recently, I pawed through all my fabric, looking for two things: neutrals and an advent calendar kit I bought about two years ago. Found some of one, not a sign of the other. Which means I put the kit somewhere "safe" and/or "easy to remember". Ha!
In the process, I found a number of projects I really should finish. I thought it might be fun to list them. I reserve the right to make this a partial list so as not to scare anyone. Including myself.
I couldn't have made this list, or even looked through all that, anytime in the last several months. It would have been too hard, because I wouldn't have had any time to devote to anything. Now, though, I am making some space in my schedule so that I can do things like this again. Because, as you think I might be able to remember, few things make me as happy as making something.
Cora's sweater - 1-1/2 arms to go!
Knit market bag - handles needed
Cowl - yeah, maybe 1/4 done? But it's for me, so there's no time pressure
Noro socks - same as above.
Christmas quilt from an old block exchange (how old? I was still stitching by hand) - need two new blocks and then I can, you know, put the top together and so forth
Couple small quilt tops that need to be made into actual quilts
and a couple more quilt projects still in the works at various stages
Despite all those, and the secret ones, I would still really like to find that kit!
In the process, I found a number of projects I really should finish. I thought it might be fun to list them. I reserve the right to make this a partial list so as not to scare anyone. Including myself.
I couldn't have made this list, or even looked through all that, anytime in the last several months. It would have been too hard, because I wouldn't have had any time to devote to anything. Now, though, I am making some space in my schedule so that I can do things like this again. Because, as you think I might be able to remember, few things make me as happy as making something.
Cora's sweater - 1-1/2 arms to go!
Knit market bag - handles needed
Cowl - yeah, maybe 1/4 done? But it's for me, so there's no time pressure
Noro socks - same as above.
Christmas quilt from an old block exchange (how old? I was still stitching by hand) - need two new blocks and then I can, you know, put the top together and so forth
Couple small quilt tops that need to be made into actual quilts
and a couple more quilt projects still in the works at various stages
Despite all those, and the secret ones, I would still really like to find that kit!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
What?!
Monday, someone said something to me that both simultaneously filled me with excitement and panic: "Christmas is only about five weeks away."
I should have known, given the uptick in commercials devoted to toys and electric shavers and diamond jewelry (only one category in that list is of any interest to anyone at my house - can you guess which one?). But immediately my mind was swirling with ideas and questions about baking and making and matching nice gifts to nice people.
Now it is Wednesday night. I have an excellent start on a battery of lists. That always makes me feel like I am really accomplishing something! I also finally located the box full of felt cut-outs for our tree skirt. For about eight years it has gone unadorned, but I swear that this year it will have some trees, stars, deer, birds, and rabbits on it!
I should have known, given the uptick in commercials devoted to toys and electric shavers and diamond jewelry (only one category in that list is of any interest to anyone at my house - can you guess which one?). But immediately my mind was swirling with ideas and questions about baking and making and matching nice gifts to nice people.
Now it is Wednesday night. I have an excellent start on a battery of lists. That always makes me feel like I am really accomplishing something! I also finally located the box full of felt cut-outs for our tree skirt. For about eight years it has gone unadorned, but I swear that this year it will have some trees, stars, deer, birds, and rabbits on it!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Suspicions
1. My days must contain fewer hours than the days of some other people.
2. Our babysitter thinks all we ever eat is mac and cheese.
3. My sewing machine is secretly trying to commit suicide by getting me to kill it (you know, like on the cop shows when the bank robber won't put his gun down and makes the officers shoot him because he just doesn't believe he has any other choice).
4. There are at least four different ways in which I cannot afford to continue with this back-to-school idea.
5. The Universe is relieved I am finally picking up its messages.
2. Our babysitter thinks all we ever eat is mac and cheese.
3. My sewing machine is secretly trying to commit suicide by getting me to kill it (you know, like on the cop shows when the bank robber won't put his gun down and makes the officers shoot him because he just doesn't believe he has any other choice).
4. There are at least four different ways in which I cannot afford to continue with this back-to-school idea.
5. The Universe is relieved I am finally picking up its messages.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Dreams...
Twice in the last week I've dreamed about making a quilt.
The first dream concerned a quilt with a traditional star block done in Kansas Troubles-like fabrics (not a type of fabric I typically work with!).
The second was about having a stack of really colorful fabrics and needing to make an applique quilt of some kind. Just as I settled on butterflies and started drafting my pattern, I woke up.
Is it a coincidence that I have in my sewing machine upstairs a half-done quilt and have been saying for days and days, "I'd like to have a chance to sew today"? That since starting to work at the local quilt shop I nearly constantly have fabrics and designs and colors and ideas dancing in my brain?
Surely not!
The first dream concerned a quilt with a traditional star block done in Kansas Troubles-like fabrics (not a type of fabric I typically work with!).
The second was about having a stack of really colorful fabrics and needing to make an applique quilt of some kind. Just as I settled on butterflies and started drafting my pattern, I woke up.
Is it a coincidence that I have in my sewing machine upstairs a half-done quilt and have been saying for days and days, "I'd like to have a chance to sew today"? That since starting to work at the local quilt shop I nearly constantly have fabrics and designs and colors and ideas dancing in my brain?
Surely not!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Nothing ventured, nothing gained; Or, heaping high the plate and hoping for the best
NaNoWriMo 2011 starts in just over 12 days. While it is true I completely flamed out in 2010 and never wrote beyond week two (I blame the moving), and it is also true that my participation in Camp NaNoWriMo this past August was largely an imaginary endeavor, the third truth is that I for sure will not write anything if I don't sign up at all. At this point I would rather take the hit to my pride and admit I didn't finish my 50,000 words than not attempt it at all.
So, put the coffee on and warm up the laptop. I'll be doing NaNoWriMo again this year.
(And put some beer in the fridge, too, okay?)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The trouble with the buffet
I talked with my mom on the phone this morning, trying to sort through the difficult choices and dilemmas that life has been sending my way lately, and she said that maybe the Universe is sending me a buffet of choices so that I can better understand what I really like to do.
I can see the wisdom in this. But I still kind of wish I had a continental breakfast menu and was choosing between the bagel and the sweet roll.
Of course, sometimes a buffet is not as broad a choice as it seems. A seafood buffet, for example, would still probably only be offering me two choices that I would be interested in. Or, you know, sometimes you look at the buffet and wonder how long that food has been sitting there.
Don't you love how the further you extend the metaphor, the more ridiculous it becomes?
I remember when Cora was around three years old and, faced with two choices and wanting neither, she would cry, "These are NOT my options!"
I can see the wisdom in this. But I still kind of wish I had a continental breakfast menu and was choosing between the bagel and the sweet roll.
Of course, sometimes a buffet is not as broad a choice as it seems. A seafood buffet, for example, would still probably only be offering me two choices that I would be interested in. Or, you know, sometimes you look at the buffet and wonder how long that food has been sitting there.
Don't you love how the further you extend the metaphor, the more ridiculous it becomes?
I remember when Cora was around three years old and, faced with two choices and wanting neither, she would cry, "These are NOT my options!"
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