Old School

I can’t be blamed for losing track of the day. Instead of simply celebrating Teacher Appreciation Day at its appointed time, my son’s school instead opts for Teacher Appreciation Week, complete with suggested assignments for exactly who to honor each day. It’s a touch overwhelming for the overthinkers among us. Anyway, the “specials” teachers are — aw gee, was that today? No, wait — that’s tomorrow; today was for the nurse. So art/music/P.E. are tomorrow, but the main teachers are to be honored on Friday, which to my mind meant that I didn’t even need to have my act together til mid-week.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up Tuesday morning and was informed my the morning news that it was the real Teacher Appreciation Day. And I didn’t have anything prepared for my daughter’s teachers. And we really do appreciate them, and I have to admit that it does stress me out a little bit to show up empty-handed after having been treated to years and years of complaints about parents who can’t be bothered to show their appreciation. (Yeah, y’all  — yes, all of you –know who you are. Save the commiserating for your colleagues! I’m one of “them”!)

Nobody panic, though. There’s still time to offer a token of thanks without breaking the bank or having a nervous breakdown:

You mean you don’t hoard glass jars? Well, then you may be out of luck. I, however, had two beautiful olive jars and some tulle. The youngest artist-in-residence decorated the cards with her trademark rainbow, and we were off to the store for the prettiest daisies you ever did see. And we were so pleased with our offering, and so were they. Happiness for all!

Teachers really are a deserving group, and my kids teachers — all ten of them — are terrific. Hopefully, Joey’s won’t hold it against me if they don’t all get something wonderful…or anything at all. ["Specials", I'm sorry! My act is not yet together as of this printing....]

 

 

 

No Big Deal

One of my more unfortunate tendencies is to treat every little thing like it’s major. Creatures of habit can be that way, and I’m nothing if not routine-driven. On the one hand, I’ve come to accept that I need to take a minute to really spin things around in my mind for a while before committing to an answer. I’m okay with that. But I’m not okay with constantly leading with a “no” (just ask my kids if you didn’t know this about me, but I’m pretty sure you know it, too), or completely blowing things out of proportion when it comes to timing.

For example:

Last week was the AWANA Grand Prix at church. I bought some cupcakes to add to the dessert table, and was really thrilled with myself for dropping them off early in the day so that I could check it off of my list of obligations. Really, anything I can do to reduce the noise level in my head is a good thing, and I already told you that the last few weeks have left me feeling a little out of control. (Not that I have control issues. Surely not.) Anyway, as the afternoon went on, I thought about making some cookies or something. Ooh, but would there be time? And then I spied the lovely jar that had been sitting on my counter for a whole week (after I spied it in the pantry and decided that there was no way I was wasting such a sweet gift…and then promoted it to the counter to wile away a few more days.)

Really, how long does it take to add butter and eggs to pre-mixed dry ingredients? And then to drop and bake the cookies?

Not long at all, as it turns out. They were delicious, by the way, and we were all sad that there was only one left when we got home. I’m kind of becoming a fan of small batch baking; it’s so much more manageable! Anyway, I’m trying very hard to adopt more of a new “just do it” attitude, and pop-ups like this won’t be such a shock to those who live here.

Here’s hoping.

All Over the Place

I’ll tell you what: as much as I dislike March, I’m torn over how to feel about it being so close to the end already. What is going on?!

Is Easter really next week? So, there’s only a half-week of school coming up? Really?

It’s all a bit much to process. Do I still have time to make a Spring/Easter wreath? Is it worth it?

Do I even care about making one anymore? I think the question points toward an obvious answer….

On top of that, my friends keep having babies, and even grandbabies (talk about hard to process!), and the “get this done now” clock in my head was just buzzing louder and louder until I finished up the squares for this quilt, which steamrolled its way right to the top of the list. Oh, but the relief of having it that much closer to done. Totally worth throwing closet cleaning to the back burner…except now the clock in my head it buzzing over that! Whatever. It’s always something.

But I digress — back to Easter. Which is, I say again, next week. Now, in a rare move, I actually managed to get my kids their duds before Good Friday (which really doesn’t seem like it should be the unofficial Easter finery shopping day, you know?), and I love this little dress.

Except for that tacky little daisy:

Yeah, we can do better than that. A little fancy fabric, a little candlelight, and voila:

I salvaged the button from the original flower, and just love love love this version. (I basically used this beautiful tutorial as my guide. Thank you, Autum!) Granted, it still needs to have the pin attached — and the button, for that matter — but it’s as good as done. In fact, the glue gun is already out, thanks to yesterday’s crazy tangent project, but that’s a story for another day. As you can see, I even made a second flower for Little Fancy’s hair. I’m on a roll!

Things are happening, friends. The quilt squares from the beginning of the tale? They are already down, stitched, and basted onto the rest of their little quilt sandwich. Happening, I say!

‘Round Here

Today most definitely had Wednesday written all over it.

Yesterday, I had a mad taste for chocolate cake, so today I whipped up my favorite one. Mind you, when I say “favorite”, that doesn’t mean I make it often. I think I’ve made it twice before.

“Don’t worry if it sinks in the middle: indeed, it will do so because it’s such a dense and damp cake, ” it says. Indeed. It looks like the pan is actually swallowing the cake.

“...put in a baking sheet in case of sticky drips later,” it says. Yes. “Drips.” It was more of a pile. A pile which fell off the pan and onto the floor and into an open drawer below the oven. Awesome.

(It was delicious, though, I must say.)

All madness aside, this is quite the tasty cake — almost more of a bread pudding in its consistency — and there’s a very helpful note in the version of the recipe link which mentions bailing out some of the batter if it’s too close to the top. That is to say: if your loaf pan isn’t the right size after all [ahem!], and you don’t want it to go all volcanic on you in the oven.

While that was all going on, I was treated to a pampering manicure:

Anything goes on Momma/Bridgie Wednesdays! [Joey's thoughtful question: Do your hands feel disgusting? You know, since it's two inches thick? I declined to comment.]

At least there was granola, which I’ll share later. I only dumped a couple of servings on the floor while trying to pour it from pan to jar.

Let’s hear it for Wednesday!

Keep It Going Full Steam

It would seem like my main two goals (on the making front, that is) would work together well. Number one is to use up what I have; the second is to not put a project aside until it’s finished. Decide on something, prep it, and crank it out.

Oh, but, whoops! These squares have been sitting on my sewing table for at least a week, probably two. (Probably more, but really that’s beside the point.) Also, there’s a similar one sitting on the shelf all cut and ready to go, and that’s not even mentioning the denim one that’s sitting half on the table and half in a box below. In fairness, that one is in limbo because I ran out of materials, and not at all because I ran out of interest after cutting the first fifty-six squares from the legs of old jeans. Nooo….

You can see where this is all heading. Backward, and quickly. So, today, I decided to fight the urge to start on a brand new and exciting quilt in favor of finishing a half-done one. (Let’s not talk about its companion, please. It’ll get its turn soon enough.) And now it’s all done but the snipping, ready to be put away for next year. A small but significant victory in the war on…myself? Yeah, that’s about right.

*****

A couple of nights ago, I was in a sad state and just poured my heart into a post about some of the ways in which I’ve missed my dad over the six years he’s been gone. Then I woke up this morning — the anniversary of his death — and realized that the writing was really enough for me, and that the story didn’t need to go any further than my drafts folder. It can be summed up thusly:

I love my dad. I miss my dad, especially when there’s a particularly good game (it never did matter which sport) or concert on TV.

I don’t like March, but I try to make the best of it.

I can’t believe a day will come when I’ll stop missing my dad, or when I’ll stop dreading March.

No good month filled with terrible memories March.

So Late, It’s Early

True confession: The embroidered Elf Stichette in the center took a while to make. Embroidery always takes longer than I think it will, but it probably would have come together faster had I not left it sit in the bag for one full year. When I took it out, it turned out that only the smile and the cheeks needed to be stitched. Er….

Also: I didn’t even take Joey’s Christmas quilt out of the box this year for fear it would start the “where’s mine?” chorus from the girl. He didn’t notice it’s absence, but I felt badly about it. I knew what I’d done.

Goodness. The pains I’ll go through not to finish something! I’ll tell you, I remember starting this quilt long ago, but I can’t put my finger on exactly how long. It’s been at least two years, but I have a bad feeling that it may have been three. Oh, who cares? It’s done now! I finally pieced it after Thanksgiving, and decided to put the pedal to the metal to get. it. done. a couple of weeks ago.

And — voila! — just like that, I’m officially months and months ahead of the game. The first gift of the Christmas ’13 season is in the bag!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

It’s that time of year again, my friends: Rodeo Time! Now I’m not much of a rodeo fan, but I do love Go Texan day and all that goes with it.

Elementary school hoedown? Yay!

Western duds? Yeehaw!

Oh, but oops — Little Girl didn’t have anything even remotely Western. Luckily, I found this bandana print at Mom’s, and a ton of black lightweight denim fabric. That was on Friday, which left me plenty of time to whip up a little skirt over the weekend.

Except…

…when I pulled the denim out of the wash Friday night, black linty dust flew up in a cloud. It also coated the inside of the washer, the dryer, and the garage floor beneath the vent. What the? When I washed it again, more of the same; the fabric apparently was disintegrating. Well, great.

So much for free and easy.

But not so fast. That’s not the Spirit of the West! I got myself to Joann’s Monday morning, and found a really cute piece of slubby denim (on sale, no less.) I used this old faithful skirt pattern as a guide, along with a combo of these two ruffle tutorials. Done and done. I’d picked up a white shirt at H&M a couple of weeks ago, so it was just an applique away from being a super cute outfit-maker.

Can you tell that I’m a little pleased with how it turned out? And she’s been twirling around ever since, so I guess it is officially a winner. Of course, tonight she plans to switch it out for her fanciest satin dress before we go to Cubbies.

As it turns out, she’s only a little bit country.

Better Luck Next Time

There are times when everything comes together, and I really get things done. Then, there are times when it just doesn’t work out; not much gets done.

Well, except these here bags. They got done, but don’t be fooled: they are absolutely not filled with delicious raspberry scones for the kids’ teachers. They should have been, but I didn’t have enough baking powder, and that was that. To quote The Gambler, know when to fold ‘em. Happy Valentine’s Day! I figure they’ll be just as tasty on some random Tuesday down the road, no?

I also arbitrarily decided that Valentine’s Day gifts are the responsibility of the man of the house. (Actually, this was my mom’s assertion, and I grabbed hold of it.) Still, I like the little people of this place to feel special, so this morning I went the heart-shaped-breakfast route. PB and J for the boy, and apples spread with PB for the girl. They did everything but carry me on their shoulders around the living room.

Lesson: Don’t be so hard on yourself! Sometimes a little is enough.

Now I’m off to finish cleaning the kitchen before I mess it up again with some chicken and biscuits for my favoritest guy in the world. Lucky for me, that’s gift enough for him. We really do make a good team.

Ooh, Shiny!

It’s been a very strange, wonderful December. This was the most go-with-the-flow Christmas I can remember (which seems to be the case for many of us, I’ve noticed), with nothing going quite according to plan. For me, I just decided that I wouldn’t force myself to do anything. Unfortunately for my family members, this meant eighty-sixing the Christmas Eve soup dinner that I’ve hosted for the past couple of years. Fortunately for me, they didn’t seem to mind that much. It just wasn’t happening, and the back and forth will I or won’t I argument in my head was giving me anxiety attacks. I know! Over something so minor! But that’s the way it was, so I just let it go, and the stress rolled off with it. Amazing. Know what? My household reaped the benefit, because it was the most relaxed Christmas Eve we’ve ever had. Who knew?

That’s not to say that you should breeze through life only doing exactly as you please, but I think I’m going to be doing a lot more of this brand of gut-checking in 2013.

There was a lot that didn’t get done. I’m not going to regale you with all of that nonsense, because what’s the point? Well, here’s the point: I’m easily distracted. It’s kind of a curse, because distraction is the enemy of discipline, BUT it can also be a creative boon. In moderation/as part of your healthy diet/and all that. This was also the Year of the Pop-up, wherein I found that I didn’t have time (or energy or motivation) to finish some of the projects on my to-do list, but magically did find the time to finish ones that just popped into my head.

For example, the crayon wallet for a certain niece that totally needed one, right?

And why use fabric that you’ve already cut when you have the perfect excuse to use fun Seuss fabric?

Then there was the scarf for a woman I thought could use a little extra cheer, and — would you look at that! — wouldn’t that fleece make a great wrap?

And wouldn’t you know that making these gifts was about the most fun I’d had (it’s amazing how much fun making ONE of something can be after months of multiples) in a long time. The lesson? Make room for pop-ups! They’re fun!

If I have my way, this is going to be a big year for making. I’m already setting the stage, and can’t wait to get started on some new stuff. Happy 2013, friends!

 

Loving the Village

I really love making and giving gifts; you would think that this would be the total best time of year for a person like me, and yet….

Sometimes things get out of hand. Say, for instance, when you’re trying to assemble teacher gift. This is definitely an area where I find myself really wanting to do more, and yet wishing I could do less. I find the whole exchange very awkward, mostly because I’ve sat at table with too many teachers who complain about the crummy gifts they receive from their students. And hey, who hasn’t complained about a sub-par gift at some point in their life? But it does make me a little self-conscious. Still, there are practical aspects, such as a limited budget and a legion of teachers. So many teachers! But they are wonderful and have really been a blessing to my kids this year, so no one gets left behind.

The homeroom teachers (and the directors of my girl’s preschool) received Happy, Healthy New Year jars, filled with a tissue pack; lip balm; hand cream; Burt’s Bees throat drops; and tea. I made the purse packs for the tissues and found the rest at ye olde Target.

For the art and music teachers, I made ornaments:

(for the art teacher)

(Well, you probably figured this one out.)

Just as I was putting the finishing touches on the wrapping of said gifts — all wrapping/packaging materials which I dug out of my abundant supplies, thankyouverymuch — I realized that the P.E. teachers had been totally left out in the cold. Aw, man! Then I thought about baking a couple of kinds of scones and making little breakfast bags for them. And then I remembered that I had the supplies for these tasty treats in the pantry:

We have a winner! They are festive, delicious, and don’t require me to make a much larger mess out of my kitchen tonight. Joy to the world!

Now if I could just get my act together and finish up the stuff I wanted to make for the neighbors and a few other beloved local citizens, I’ll be golden. Then again, I might end up settling for preserving my sanity and taking the bronze in this event. Time will tell.