I blame the flu

Yes thats right I blame me not posting for a month on the flu. Wow it really has been a month.
I think it was the next morning after that post I woke up with a terrible migraine and fevers. I called Nate home from work and when he finally got home (each minute was like an eternity) I went to my room and began wharfing. Ahh sick... so so so much fun. I stayed there my bed for about a week. And then felt like crap for another 2. Then I was just too darn lazy to come blog. Oh that and the rest of the family took turns getting sick as well. But not M, she was protected by Super Mama Milk!

I've accomplished amazingly little for a month to have gone by. My squares are all cut out and laying on the ironing board. I dont know that I've even sewn anything of consequence. I replaced some elastic in the legs of an old diaper. I need to do the back as well but not sure how to get in there. I hemmed 3 sides of a wrap. And now I'm thinking it's too long and I should cut about 12" off, maybe more. Annnddd.... I think thats it. Wow, thats terrible. I have so many things cut out and they're just kind of piling up.

This Thursday is a 2k or a 3k (I'm not sure which and I'm too lazy to look it up)that I had planned on running in. However between my being sick and not training like I should've and the addition of 2 little girls, I will not be. (I'm sorry that sentence is formated so terribly. I'm so sleepy right now.) Instead I will be walking and pushing the littles and doing every trick in the mama book to keep M from screaming her head off.

M is an angry elf.

Thats not a mess

Its the creative mind at work. No actually its mostly a mess. After a weekend away our house is always a disaster on Mondays. The drive home is so long that by the time we are here unloading the car is well... it's half assed. Drag the crap into the nearest doorway and call it done. Add to that, that no matter how little we take with us we always come home with a car load. What can I say people like to buy my deliciously cute little girls things. What they really need is an extra room to put all these things in.

Anyway, went way off track there. I decided that my next quilt had to be pinwheels and after reading way too many quilting blogs I stumbled upon this awesome tutorial/quilt a long.


http://www.psiquilt.com/2010/01/pinwheel-sampler-quilt-along.html
(I tried to make that clickable for you, but I am blogger inept.)

Its completely perfect for a newbie like me. So I picked a color scheme and went to Joanns. Yes yes I know Joanns blech. I'm POOR and my town doesn't have a quilt shop. Cut me some slack. The selection in my desired color scheme was abysmal at best. But I'm going to make it work. (Tim Gunn) So tonight I'm cutting out my two Block Ones. I'm excited about this so it may get to skip ahead in the too sew pile.

We shall see. Now if only I could get my ass in gear and get more than the bare minimum done around here I wouldn't feel so bad about taking a day to just sew sew sew.

M is asleep so mommy code dictates that I sleep now or forfeit my right to bitch about being tired tomorrow. I choose sleep!

Jillian Michaels is kicking my butt...

Got to get this body of mine back into shape. Baby is half to blame, and the other half is me eating massive amounts of crap to keep myself awake after baby. Going to sign up for the Frankfort Trifecta, and the first race is March 17th. So umm yea barely over a month away. I have got to get on the ball... or eliptical. Ha Ha

I've been doing the 30 day shred video for the last week and holy moly. The first couple days I hurt soo bad. Soo bad. I'm still not doing great but I'm doing and thats what really counts. Tommorow I think I'll see how hard I can go on the elipitcal for 30 minutes and just alternate between the two exercises. And maybe if it decides to be unseasonably nice out and M decides to be unseasonably well behaved, then I can get out and actually run a bit.

Go me!

Oh my crap!!

2 post in one day! Why Yes because I just have to share

LOOK!!!



I stumbled upon this site earlier: http://www.checkerdist.com/products/fabrics?l=5908 Wow so I guess I should start saving now because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to have ALL of these. Squeee! Want Want Want!

I'm not dead yet...

Yea I'm still here. Been sewing up some of the little easy to mark off the list type thing. Made Miriam a sleep sack since she's gotten too big for her swaddler. Also tested a new pattern from Bonnie at http://fishsticksandfries.com/blog/ Its a romper and coveralls and they are awesome. I want to sew up a few more but my snap thinger is terrible. I need to upgrade and get some dies for my press. Plus my sewing list is still 5 miles long.

I've got several things cut out and waiting for me to sew them. And then I've got several more all planned out and laying on the table to be cut. It's a sickness I tell you. A SICKNESS.

Anyway just wanted to post since I hadn't for a while. And I wish I had pictures but the camera and I have been having some disagreements. Like, for instance, I want it to take a picture that doesn't look like shit. And it wants me to ... well I don't know what it wants and I think that's the problem. Grah!

Yes, yes you do

I have too many hobbies. Or things I want to be hobbies... or something like that. Lets see I sew clothes and diapers, quilt, knit, spin, run (lol at that one recently) photography.. hmm I'm sure there is more but my brain, she is fried.

I keep adding more crap to my want to do list, and then I forget and dont do it. And then I add more on to the list.
The current list:
Carseat blanket
Sleep sack
Make soap
make a soap mold
Lotion bars
Mitten garland
finish knitting UFOs or frog them
stacked coin or charm square quilt
land and sea quilt for Miriams bed
Save selvedges for possible future quilt
Sparrow quilt
Lonestar
Pinwheel with parisville fabrics
pillowcase for E's bed
Diapers! Medium Diapers
declutter house

Ugh see, it's neverending. If I did half as much as I though about doing I'd well.. have a ton of shit done.

And now I leave you with the fruits of many hours of planning. Ahh Paint how I love thee...

Before and After...

Before

After


*Please ignore Snoopy's apprent dispair at the removal of the towel.

It's amazing how accustomed I had grown to having a raggy dirty old towel in my floor. For a month or so now we've had towels shoved against the base of our exterior doors in hopes of keeping some of the cold air out.
This morning E and I got to work on some draft stoppers. I cut them out and sewed them and then E and I stuffed them together. (I stuffed, she played games with the stuffing, BUT she attempted to help. <3 ) It's actually a really simple project, cut a piece of fabric the width of the doorway (plus an inch for seams) by about 6 1/2 inches. Sew right sides together, leaving a short side open then turn and stuff away. The turning and stuffing is by far the hardest part. Once stuffed turn the ends inward and sew closed. You could topstitch the other end if the mis-matched ends bothered you. For now mine are just filled with poly-fil but I'm considering throwing a little rice in there for weight. I'm more concerned with having enough rice for our planned meals so I'm in no hurry to try this out.

Oh dear..

Oh dear sweet little blog, how I have neglected you. *shakes head forlornly* So much has happened since the last posting.

My father passed away on November 26th, 2009, Thanksgiving. There are so many words and yet none.

E keeps growing and growing.

A new little one has come along, M.

And N still tolerates me. Ha Ha


I thought I might try this blogging thing again. I need a place to talk about all the things that no one in real life want to hear me ramble on about. I have a craft list 5 miles long but never seem to have time to do any of it. Hello procrastination, why don't they make a pill for you?

The last few days I have become a bit obsessed with the idea of making a lone star quilt. The IDEA of it. I'm not exactly sure how I will/would do with the actual act of it. But for now I am enjoying plotting and planning and fantasizing about all the new neat crafty things I just NEED to make it.

But in the meantime I decided to knock a few of those nagging little things of the list (post it note on my desktop.) Today I started a pair of cute little outfits for my M and another to gift to someone. The fabric for the top is in the dryer now, so maybe I'll have some finished pictures to show off tomorrow.

Warm Fuzzies

So shortly after my last post, everyone started to filter back in. My Mom and bro returned from Church and N and E came back from breakfast at his moms. The house began to fill up with noise, and I got irritable. My Aunt stopped by on her way home from church and I was admiteddly irritated with her, since she knew my Dad was sick and resting.

BUT I am an asshat. Actually she stopped by because she had asked my Mom about my Dad at church. Dad had been feeling quite shitty to be honest. The Drs had given him a pill to help with the nausea but it cost $200 for one pill. Two frickin Hundred. So my dad kept saying he would keep it til he felt worse. In their world (and mine) 200 is a ton. Anyway here he was feeling too crappy to attend church, and trying to convince himself he felt fine.

Well my Aunt came in gave him $200 and made him take the pill. :)

It gave me the warm fuzzies.

It's Quiet

Wow that word is so foreign to me I had to double check that I had spelled it correctly. We're visiting with family this weekend, and N and E are at MILs. Mom and lil bro are at church. And Dad is resting on the couch.

And here I am wanting to type something but having nothing new or interesting to relate. I just had to mark this monumental occasion. Ha Ha

Down

That's me today. I'm just down and yuck and angry and bluh. I feel overwhelmed and under stimulated at the same time.

Yesterday was my bday. It was also the day my Dad started his Chemo treatments. About a month ago N and I were preparing to go out on a Saturday. We never get out so I was fixing my hair for once. The phone rings and I sit on the edge of the tub and listen as my mom tells me my Dad has lung cancer. A lump forms in my throat but I try to remain steely and calm. I continue to calmly chat with her as I take E to her room and put her shoes on. We say our good byes and I love yous. I hang up the phone then run crying to N, my arms out stretched. It all comes pouring out in choking sobs. Why Why Why?! Hasn't this family had enough cancer? Why? E wonders in and I pretend to be fine and ask N to take her to her room to play. I cry more. and more and more. I want the past hour to disappear. I want to disappear.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of driving to visit them every weekend and then trudging through a slow week. A few years ago when my mom had cancer, members outside of my family told me what a relief it was for my family for me to be around. I cheer them up, I am the jokester the fun one.

I am the sad clown, a painted on smile and a tear sparkling in my eye. Its been eating me. Making me angry when I'm not "performing." I've said some mean things to N. Some horrible mean things. I'm the ornery alligator, the sleeping dog, the wicked bitch of the east. Anger is so much easier than sadness. So that's what I did. I got angry. I bet if I had a lawn with kids on it, they would've gotten a stern fist shaking.

Anyway I cracked. It all came pouring out and I'm trying to deal with things as they come. And I guess that means being sad. I am sad. I still want to go back in time.

After months of sending him around my dad is no closer to answers about his cancer than I am about this time machine I'm planning to build. Final result is 3% of cancers is unknown, and this is one of them. Course of action is to treat and test, til something shows positive results.

Sigh I'm sad and don't know how to be happy. I sit, I am ...but I am not.



Oh and for my birthday yesterday I ordered a yard of sparrows. Fuck the no spend.

Yum Yum Fiesta!

So an innocent discovery while scouring a junk store led me to a new obsession; Fiestaware! So purty. Last summer my mom and I were looking for a sand box for E, and stopped at a junk store. This is not just any junk store this is THE junkstore. And for anyone that knows where I am from, it should go without saying that it was Calvin's. Though now that I think about it I don't know what the real name of the place is. Everyone locally refers to it by the owners full name. And the junk has long been piled higher than the name painted on the building. Hmm now I'm curious.

Let me paint a picture of this place for those who haven't seen it. Imagine a building with rooms randomly built on for years. Imagine none of those rooms being built to code. More or less just stuck on in the cheapest easiest way possible and making very little sense in the overall flow. (Kind of like my first Sims house.) K got it... now imagine this building on the side of a hill.. well cliff but just a cliff high enough to kill you if you fall off. Maybe a couple hundred feet. Yea that's it. And imagine that when you go inside each room has its own slant, so you windup walking like you're sailing on rough seas. K sufficiently scared enough to never take your children inside? But the catch is, he has some really great finds in there (And some things that should long ago been dumpstered.)

Well anyway, my mom and I decided to stop to see if they had a sandbox. (They didn't.) So we wondered around a bit. Well downstairs and about three rooms back, in a room that feels oddly like its about to slide over the hill, is fiesta. Each wall has 4 shelves running the length of the room, each about 24" deep, stacked with fiesta. The middle of the room is filled with old records, but I ignore them. I am there for the dishes.

I had always admired fiestaware, but put that aside because of the price. And did so on the day I found it as well. Months past and then for Christmas I got money for a present from several people, because apparently I'm hard to buy for. So one cold morning my Mom and I bundled up and went to the hole in the ground where they hide the dishes. Ha Ha

Knowing the I was going to hang my quilt in the dining area and planned to make matching placemats, I picked a few pieces that I could set out and coordinate with that color scheme. 2 teacups, 2 chili bowls, and 4 saucers was my haul for the day. And best of all only cut $21 out of my Christmas money. Well the poor dishes had to wait nearly 3 weeks before I finished my placemats, but I finally did.

And I loved it. So much so that I decided I needed to go back for more. I still had $30 stashed away from Christmas, and with very little convincing my Mom and I journeyed back, back into the mines of Moi.... umm I mean the basement of the junkstore. Once we got there my Mom informed me that she wanted to get me some fiesta for my bday so pick out what I wanted. Woots. So with some digging and thinking I wound up with plates, 4 cereal bowls, 1 large serving type bowl and a mug. This time I decided to go for colors I didn't have yet. The total this time $23. Ha I love the way the owner adds up prices, he looks at what you are holding, mumbles a few numbers knocking a bit off verbally. (exp "$3 minus 50c") I told my Mom later that perhaps next time we should get even more, since he seems to have a set price for an armload of fiesta.

This weeks haul:

And all together now:

Ahhh, So purty! I have to invite someone over to show them off now. And I have so much more to write after slacking for a couple weeks, but this post is already overly long. So hopefully more tommorow.

** For some reason my pictures are being cut off.. boo!**

Did I mention that not spending is boring.

Yea that, its boring. Ha Ha Anyway, its kind of second nature at this point. We have no needs being unmet. And no pressing wants, well not material ones anyway. I want my house to be spic and span...hmm maybe that is material.

I just wish a little floor cleaning fairy would visit my house every few nights. Floors are not my thing, even when I do try to keep a clean floor I just have a smeary floor with dog hair tumbleweeds. You just cant catch them!

And I do need to get a picture uploaded every now and then. Might spice this place up a bit.


Yea just a mini update to put off folding clothes a little longer. :)

Help I'm drowning in junk

The thing with decluttering is everytime I commit myself to doing it, I dont. Ha I really really need to just get on it. I want to do it Clean Sweep style drag it all out to the lawn and then only put back what needs to be in there. But thats not possible for a few reasons, the weather is crappy, even on a nice day to get the stuff outside we'd have to go down our awkward and steep deck stairs, and as soon as the first box landed in the front yard the neighbors would think it was a yard sale. Its funny cause its true. But the number one reason is I just can not get N on board. He doesnt get that drowning in shit feeling I get. Actually he's quite the opposite. Afraid to get rid of anything. I mean we still have crab nets from when we lived in WA. We live in KY, the only crabs around here are the... umm lets just not go there. he he

Anyway so what I'm doing is putting it in writing yet again. I need to declutter this place. I need to for me. I would like to have it done by Spring so when my mom does her spring yardsale we can tag team it. Last time I was gutsy enough to put it in writing I did pretty well for a few weeks so some places in the house should be a breeze. But others (closets!) are going to be tough.

E's room is also going to be tough. She just has too much stuff. Mounds of junky toys she never even sees. I need to just let them go. Its me hanging onto them. Not her. When I brought all of the tons of stuff home from Christmas I was almost sick. She did not need all this, it wont even fit in her giant toy bin thinger from IKEA. And that should be the thing that limits us. But I hate to get rid of things that have been given to us. I'm afraid of the person that gave it to us being hurt or getting angry. But c'mon we've got some givey people in our family and its piling up.

Ok I know I'm just rambling now, so I'm going to hop off here and try to make it look like I've done something today.

Happy New Year

We never really celebrate new years. Just a combo of having no friends nearby and prefering sleep. (Sweet sweet sleep.) I dont usual do a resolution thing. However this year I told myself I needed to blog more. I used to blog almost daily (before this one) and it was fun and I enjoy going back and reading it. So it should come as no surprise that as soon as I resign myself to do something that it does not get done. Ha. Here it is the 6th and I'm finally getting around to writing about writing more.

No spend still going well. We ate crappy fastfood a few times while we were staying in my parents town for Christmas. Fortunatly though we kept it cheap, 99c menus are fun. Looking back I realize I havent been to Joanns in months. The ladies there are probably wondering what happened to me. And that should be enough to tell you I was there far to often.

But I also still havent sewn anything (bag over head) I have started working on some placemats for the DR. But I cant make up my mind on a fabric on one and its had me stalled out for days. I had hoped to sew up about 100 pts for the stash game, and I still can but I need to get my butt in gear. And stop reading the stash game threads, the nit picking and pointing and I should get points and blah blah blah gets old fast. Hello its a "Stash GAME" you know game like it should be fun. Sigh, hello mini rant.

E is back to the potty after a few weeks of NOT using the potty. I am thrilled I knew she could I guess she just had to be hard headed. And I mention this because that is where she is right now, sitting on her potty singing to herself. So freakin cute. Now if I can just get her to get off the potty and go play. :p

So I'm a horrible updater. I think what happened is I slipped up and bought something (a dvd I've wanted for a long time) and was ashamed to post about it. Well I did, I felt bad and then I moved on.

N went forward with his computer purchase so now we have that too. Sigh Otherwise we're doing really well. I havent even been to Joanns for notions. I've been in a sewing rut and havent sewn anything new, so I havent needed any notions. Funny how that works.

We refinanced the car with our bank, now we have lower payments on that plus they gave us $100 for refinancing. I guess that will go toward that damn computer. I see no need for a new one, but he swore he NEEDED it. Need wah wah waaaaahhh. Anyway it will be here later today, so its kind of weighing heavy on my mind. Grr N has a trip for work soon that should give him enough bonus to pay most of it off.

At least we're doing a little Chritmas, I'm hoping not to spend much money at all. I need to get to work on the soaps and paper towels soon. Oh and dig out the list and double check it. AND get N to use his new computer to figure out what pictures he wants on the E calender the grandparents will be getting.

Oh and the Grinch was on a few days ago and I just keep saying to myself... "I must stop Christmas from coming.... but How?!" I dont think that was the moral of the story but that is what has stuck with me.

Half a month down..

and so far so good. I was just thinking about how boring my no spend blog can become. I mean we dont do much and how does one write about not spending money. Ha. I'm sure there will be something to write about once I find something I "need."

So far I havent even needed notions to finish any projects. And thats cool with me Joanns is like a black hole. You step in the door and already 15 minutes have passed and things you dont recall putting in your cart are there.

Ah and above is E in her sweet new Brobee costume.

1 week in

So far, so good. We used our dinner out last week on a 10 piece chicken nugget. Ha Ha Oh well at least it was cheap.

At the last minute I decided to got to my friends wedding. And I am sooo glad I did. It was cool to see everyone and we did some hanging out before and after.

Usually when we drive down there for the weekend we end up spending money on all sorts of un-needed junk. This weekend we did really good. :) I did got to yard sales with my mom. Fortunatly not much tempting me. Though my mom did buy me a Bules Traveler cd and a cd case (a whole $1.50) and E some little people. (About 10 different ones for $1) So while I didnt spend I did get some new things, which kind of feels like cheating.

Hmm what else... oh yea I sold some patterns to help fund the gas for the trip. Which reminds me that gas was only 3.19 today when I drove to town. I really shouldve filled up but I only have the card for the second bank account with me.

First real test

E and I went grocery shopping this morning. And I stuck to the list. Woot! Actually the only real temptation was "Goldfish" since when E saw them she started yell "GoFish!! GoFish!!!" Is that rabbit over there? No. Sorry hun a half a cup of crackers is just not worth a dollar.

Oh and there was a mum stand on the way home, but really I'm like the kiss of death for plants. It's a good thing for them I'm on a no spend.

So far so good, so whats that 2 days down. LOL

Oh and I used up this months trade on a ffs sparrows apron. I am so excited!

Oh and I just want to briefly mention how I make my grocery list. Basically I make a list of dinner options usually about 2 weeks worth (which is about 9 meals since we eat leftovers a lot.) Then I go through each recipe in my head, and note what I need for it. Checking my pantry as I go so I dont double up on anything. For breakfast we pretty much stick to cereal or oatmeal so I restock on those if needed. And lunch is sandwichs or leftovers. And sometimes Ramen. So tasty for 18 cents.

I know I used to just go to the grocery store and wing it and this helps soo much. I have a list of meals for DH to pick from and I know I have everything to make them. So much more simple. :)

Our first hit

So I had planned on going to a friends wedding this weekend but it is currently looking like a no go. We dont have the money for the gas, and would have to drive back that night anyway. Instead we're going to stay home and chill, and maybe MIL will stop by and play with E on Saturday.

Also I edited the christmas rule: removed 1x E calender and added 1x something for teen