Zippety-Do-Da

I'm a sucker for anything old. New things just don't have the same appeal. They're too clean and untouched and, most of the time, poorly made. So, I must confess that I uttered a little squeal (yes, not unlike a piglet) when I saw the pitcher full of vintage zippers sitting on my mother's sewing table.

As it turns out, my Grandma hit the zipper jackpot a few decades ago, when a craft store in their town went out of buisness. TWO DOLLARS per BOX of zippers! Isn't that nuts!?? She's been generously giving out zippers ever since, and these are the last of the stash.

Last year, Sarah showed the whole family how to make some adorable zippered pouches. I thought I would pass on the blessing to you all. Skip to my Lou has my favorite tutorial for this cute zippered pouch, and if you leave a comment on my blog, I'll enter you in a drawing for a handful of vintage zippers (from my Grandma Cozette's big sewing-supply score). Don't you wish they still cost 50-75 cents?

84, Charing Cross Road

What a charming book, Pam. Thank you so much for sending it my way. You're right, the tone was so similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society! I wonder if Mary Ann Shaffer read it? I'll have to glance at publication dates, to see if that would even have been possible.

Another thing that struck me about both books - one fiction and the other authentic letters - was that in real life people die - sometimes unexpectedly, with things left unfinished or put off until it was too late. That will be me some day. What things will I leave undone? Will I care?

Right now, I'm sure my family would have a huge pile of projects that they would have to dispose of. They could drop them all off at Goodwill. As long as they still loved and remembered me, I'm sure I wouldn't mind. My relationships with my children and my husband are the only projects I want them to horde. Really, what else matters?

In the Making

I have my fingers in so many pots right now. I'm working on two nine-patches, a zig-zag, and I still never finished my first quilt (I stitch it for a few seconds here and there).

But I'm a little stuck on one of them. Should I use bleached or unbleached muslin for the sashing of my zig-zag? I'm trying to brighten up my livingroom with some color - thus the yellow and blue....and do you think it matters if I repeat the yellow stripe? I just didn't find one more fabric I liked.

Lake Lessons Addendum

No, we weren't at the lake today. I wish. Really, I'm just happy no one tossed their cookies. Some of the children were even chipper and eating!
Anyhow, these are the photos I should have included with "lake lessons".

More lake lessons:

1. It's awesome to be a baby. You can sleep anywhere.

2. If someone "borrows" your new hippo floatie, don't worry. Odds are they'll leave it on the beach when they go home.

The Best-Laid Plans

My big plans for getting caught up on laundry today have been slightly altered. I woke up to 3 pukey children this morning, and now I'm just trying to get all of the puked-on things washed.

I am making new plans to rent a rug doctor, as Odie threw up some bright red drink he consumed yesterday. Grrr.

Oh, well. Better this week than next - I'd hate to ruin Sewing Camp Part Deux with the flu.

Lake Lessons

Ok. The lake is my absolute favorite spot for people-watching. Since I'm usually just sitting there, cooing at Cozette or blowing bubbles with James, I have ample time to eavesdrop (which I could hardly help doing if I wanted too - people are so loud!)

This was my favorite little nugget of wisdom from today: A man setting up his BBQ next to our blanket yelled to his 10-year-old son (who was very nice and shared his innertube with Sofia and Anthony), "Don't just carry that wine bottle out here like that! Put it in a paper bag!" Yes, because then no one will know. Way to pass on the class.

The next one was sadder. There was a young mom with a one-week-old baby seated nearby. I chatted with her briefly and admired her little one. (When did Cozette get so big?) The next thing I knew, she was sidling up to three young Russian guys, asking for a light. Lucky for them, they could act like they didn't understand enough English to know that she was hitting on them. They knew. As soon as her cigarette was lit, they high-tailed it out of there. Really? Remember 4-6 weeks? Take a vacation from men and enjoy your newborn. I hope that girl gets it together some day soon.

I have to admit that I'm starting to wish I could swim when we go to the lake. Not wade, but maybe try to swim the length of the lake. I think I'm itching for some strenuous physical exercise. Maybe I'll break in that double jogging stroller?

Random Things I Learned This Week

how to thread my serger...i'm working on the rest of its functions

that you should never make a spinach shake WITHOUT a banana in it - gross!

my kids won't let me put raisins in rice pudding, but they're fine with fennel seed
(actually, they aren't. they just said they would be. after trying it, Jonny said, "that's good!" with a horrible grimace on his face. then he admitted he was just trying to spare my feelings.)

anthony is just as happy to read all night as he is to play games all night

wal-mart's spraypaint costs a dollar less than the same brand at fred meyer's
(for my fellow taggers)

they make a yard edger for dummies, for those of us who can't do it with a weed-wacker (edge-hog!)

i have to reign myself in before my house has more sewing rooms than bedrooms

The Reptile Man

My kids never believe me that things are going to be fun. I had to drag every last one of their little rears out of bed to go see the reptile man. "We've seen him before - whine, whine, whine!"

Ok. We saw him 2 years ago - I don't think Jonny or James even remembered it. And what do you know?...it's still cool! I told them so.

Sofia was thrilled to get to help hold the python (before everyone else). Anthony is making big plans to purchase a corn snake. James was one of the children crowding around the baby alligator ("da crocodile outta da water!"). Annika and Jonny - just hanging out - ready to strike their ideal pose for Mom, when she swings the camera their way.

Do Your Kids Do This?

When your kids play, does it involve rearranging furniture? Sofia opened a Pokemon Hotel (otherwise known as a "Poketel"), and decided that our entry table would make a better check-in desk. She has also assigned Jonny to be bell-hop, Annika is in charge of room service, and Anthony is the night guard (although, I'm not sure how willingly - he's kind of over these games).
When she showed it to me, Sofi said, "Please let me keep it this way and don't be mad, because it's really cute!"
(The black case contains the typewriter, in case you were wondering.)

Monsters

Boo is still crying hysterically every time the air conditioning kicks on. He's afraid of M-O-N-S-T-E-R-S, and apparently they make the exact same sound as our cooling system. Sorry, the air is staying on. Non-negotiable.

Jonny's Suicide Attempt

Jonny is such a passionate person. I don't usually think it's funny when he gets upset/angry and threatens to kill himself, but his method of simultanious mouth and nose plugging was HI-larious. We all laughed until he was tempted to join us. Finally, we broke the news to him that he would pass out (and thus stop plugging his nose) before he would die...so he gave up.

Party Hearty :)

Wow. That was fun.

Becky pegged it when she said it was more of an open house than a party, as people filtered in and out. Everyone sewed - yes, even Rachel, who had bartered her way out of sewing by offering to mix yummy drinks, made a crayon roll, two head thing-a-ma-jiggies, and two owls. Next time I'm going to have more "kits" put together (because of course I'm going to be way more organized next time I have a party).

Kids were rampant. I think they mostly ran a lemonade stand out front and played (computer) games upstairs? A couple actually came down and sewed, once they got bored with everything else.

Sadly, I only have pictures of Becky and Rachel, because my camera was charging during most of the party. I was loaned a book that I'll be reading this next week - mmmm....quiet time. (I hope I like it - what a lovely gift!) Rare berries - already eaten by all.

And Rachel, rebellious rule-breaker that she is, only keeping the spirit of the no-presents law, salvaged an old (and, yes, fully functional) fifties Pfaff sewing machine from her barn. It's beautiful. How perfect and thematic. I can't wait to give it a spin. And, yes, she thought the Hello Kitty machine sewed great.

Party Addendum

Kids are welcome! Staying the night - also welcome!

You Are "SEW" Invited To My Party!

I'm having a sewing party at 12 noon on Thursday to celebrate my 33rd birthday! (I couldn't talk Sofia into a sewing birthday party, so I'm throwing myself one instead.) Come join me for some fun, quick projects and at least cupcakes (hopefully more. :) Leave a comment to RSVP.
And presents are strictly verboten! If you're caught with one, you'll be given the least cute project kits and be forced to use the Hello Kitty sewing machine! Consider yourself warned.

Mom's Day Off

What do Mom's do when they can do anything they want? Well, Tony had the whole day off and we decided to celebrate my birthday early - just in case work interferes on Monday. So, we all went garage saling together (minus Anthony, who was in the gaming trance), bought a yummy blackberry cream cheese pie for BREAKFAST, picked up a few plants, and then I worked on my path until it was movie time.

Everyone except Cozette and I went to Transformers. I saw The Proposal, which was cute and made me want to visit Alaska (and more importantly, it didn't give me the CGI headache that Transformers would have).

My path is finished (although I'm concerned that I might have gone a bit overboard with the rocks and plants - remind me to take a close-up picture so you can see), and, as if the universe knew it was my fake birthday, I got the fabric for my zig-zag quilt in the mail. I love it. It's perfect. More to come on that front. Thanks, Honey! (Oh, and the birthday presents were nice too. :)

Red-Handed!

Uh-oh. My neighbors came home while I was watering their yard - awkward. I just said Hi and acted like I wasn't doing anything wrong. Think they'll notice? Yes, I water my neighbor's lawn. Why? Because if I didn't, they wouldn't have one. I know they think they've been keeping it alive on one watering a week, but it was really their neighborhood water fairy - me.
I also pull their weeds. Now you know how (albeit selectively) compulsive I am.

List progress:
nothing is checked off
quilt is further along
path is further along (The picture was taken through the screen of an upstairs window. That's why it's such poor quality. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was trying to photograph them - the crazy lady next door!)

ADHD

I'm trying to overcome my genetically inherited ADHD and finish a project or two - mainly because I want to start some new ones, but feel too guilty adding to the pile.
So, here's my to do list:
flagstone path
nearly-finished apron
another less-finished apron
Sofia's horse skirt
my pretty quilt

stuff I will postpone to get all of this done:
laundry
bed-making
dishes (I guess I can delegate those)
playing my really fun new Harry Potter game on Wii

Focus, Mamalia, focus!
I hope to be posting a few accomplishments this week...so stand by.

I'm gonna jump me some rope

I got my katie jump rope fabric in the mail, and it's even cuter in person!

The saga continues...
Anthony: Mom, I can't find any of my games.
Mom: That's weird.
Anthony: What happened to my games?
Mom: They must be missing.
Anthony: Mom, I know you hid them. Why did you hide them?
Mom: Two words, Anthony. Plausible deniability.

Oops!...he did it again!

Little Anthony has had some sleepover issues. Why? Because there isn't any sleeping involved. Why is this an issue? Well, aside from me thinking it's not good for you to stay up all night gaming, I don't like my kids laying around the house like slugs all day. It's unnatural.

Last night Anthony had another sleepover, and this is the conversation we had after I picked him up:

Mom(kicking Anthony out of the computer chair, which he was sleeping in): Anthony, did you sleep at all last night?
Anthony: No...I mean yes.
(Another reason not to stay up all night. That sleep deprivation cuts into your lying abilities.)
Mom: You know, they say your first response to a question is usually the most truthful one.
Anthony (cracking one eye open to peek at me from the couch): But how will you ever know for sure?
Mom: I don't have to know. I only have to suspect to punish you. Go sleep in your bed. You'll be more comfortable.
Anthony stumbles away.

How do I know for sure? By not being a total idiot - that's how! You may be wondering why he even bothers denying the obvious truth. It has something to do with him being grounded from sleepovers until he's thirteen. Oh, and when he wakes up, he may wonder what happened to all of his computer games. I'm so mean. (That was followed by a happy evil cackle.)

Last night I finally broke down and gave my 3-year-old a haircut. He was about as cooperative as I anticipated, in other words - not very, and it shows. Some sage advice: if you want a nice haircut, don't thrash around screaming the whole time. Maybe I'll post a picture...if he sits still for that.