December 2004 Archives

is on everyone's calandar, but what is it?  I'm not sure.  Fighting?  Putting decorations back in boxes?  I know that I've read about it before, but the information escaped.

There are lots of things I want to write about, but it's late and Nate is whimpering and will probably want me to come lay down with him.  Christmas was really nice.  At the end of the day, after Willow was asleep, I read this book (from Uncle G) to the big kids by the light of two glowsticks (stocking stuffers) under the boys' new red bunkbed tent (Santa).  Then, while Sophie terrorized her Papa (something to do with wanting the boy from a frosty the snowman movie??), the boys and I listened to the last cd of this book.  It was one of those sorts of moments that I daydreamed about when I thought of what it would be like to have kids.  (Ahem, except for Sophie's behavior.)  Why are those so rare?  Is it reality or attitude or selfishness or having too much or too little?  Am I too busy to see them?

Enough words, time for pictures!

There's nothing like baking a beautiful loaf of bread to put you back on top of things.

I'm still too busy to even check my email much.  Forget about blogging or reading blogs.  But, my mom did email me a link to a great new blog and I love it.  So, go read. 

(John is keeping up with our lives over at his blog, if you're so inclined.)

I'm stupidly busy.  To the point where I'm figuring out which things won't get done, since it will be impossible to do them all.  Obviously, the blogging will slide a little.  Back soon.  Must knit.

I am almost done shopping for the holidays.  (It's really fast when you haven't got much to shop with, ya know?)  My grandmother sent a check so I could shop for the kids for her (don't you wish more people did that??  I always put her name on the tag) and I got the girls these tops (jacks and patchy) from Textile Fetish*.  (I get tons of comments when the girls wear her stuff.  And, hey, I may have fallen down on the job about looking cute myself, but nobody can say that I -- with contributions from fashion-minded relatives like Granny, Uncle Jay, aunties Cait and Ashley and others -- don't do a good job dressing the girls when I know they won't get muddy or eat strawberries.)  Now for the wrapping and sending.  But, first, the knitting.  I have to go on a yarn run sunday when John gets back (not taking the kids with me no matter what) so I can make 2 eyeglass cases -- easy! fast! yay! -- and finish a scarf (thought I had too much, but it was not enough) and find a good yarn for my little brother's hat and for someone else's scarf and then I have to knit all those and one more scarf that I do have yarn for and, yeah, you might be getting a card that says "Sometime in January, February at the latest, maybe March if we don't all get over this cold, you will recieve some hand-knit goodness from me." 

I also want to have a little family picture taken, but Lexy is still waiting for his barber to return to work and his hair is really long.  Maybe it will stick; he does look good now that it's getting long looking instead of he-needs-a-haircut looking.  As long as he drops the whole tail fixation.  I let him dye his hair in first grade, but I can't stand by and let him make such a fashion error.  I'm all sentimental that his curls returned in the back.  He had ringlets until he was two and someone (not me) insisted he get a haircut.   

Speaking of Lexy; yesterday he and I were talking about the horrible girl that always calls him names and puts him down.  I'd complain to the principal, but he dishes right back and I am hopeful that they will figure it out without grown ups forcing them to be nice.  Anyhow, he was telling me that she was, this hurts to type, "hot."  I asked him what he meant by that.  He said, "Mom, you know what a hot girl is!"  I asked him to enlighten me and he said that it's a girl who wears "certain clothes" (meaning certain brands, not skimpy styles) and is a "fancy dresser."  I told him that when someone describes someone else as hot, it means that they think that person is really attractive and that they like them.  He said two of his friends told him that they think she's hot.  He was mortified.  Poor boy. 

Hell, poor me.  Second graders calling girls hot??  Just because I'm fully aware that worse goes on at even younger ages doesn't mean that I'm not sad about stuff like that.

John's performance in Seattle was last night at 6 pm.  Haven't talked to him since, but we did talk on the phone before.  He said that it's raining there, but we like that.  Saturday night is the Portland show, and Sunday morning he comes home.  I wonder if I can teach him to knit? 

* I know, paranthetical comments AND a footnote.  Shoot me.  *I wish that the lovely Jen at Textile Fetish made grown up sized, capri length patchy overalls.  I think about that all the time.  Like when I am at the grocery store with all four kids and I'm saying, "NO! We are sticking TO THE LIST!   Quit asking for that.  ONLY THE LIST, I SAID.  NO NO NO.  Quit whining and begging.  Stop it," what I'm thinking is, "Oh.  My.  If I had a pair of patchy overalls, I wouldn't care about any of this trivial stuff, because life would be fabulous."  And you think I'm making that up.      

There we are on Halloween.  John is the bug guy and next to him is my little brother.  The picture was taken by the beloved Ciao and his wife. 

One thing I keep meaning to write down.  Sophie and I made cookies and everyone, mostly Nate, ate tons of them as they were cooling.  After I felt that everyone, Nate really, had had enough, enough being nine or ten, ahem, I put plastic wrap over the plate of cookies and turned out the kitchen light.  Nate came to me from the kitchen a few minutes later, clearly alarmed.  "MOM!  There's some kind of force field over the cookies!!"

And finally, the present. 

While I was cleaning out and up the boys' room, a lamp fell off a shelf and hit me on the back of the head (HARD) while I was bent over picking sticky hard Halloween candy off the carpet from under the shelf that I had anally moved (ha ha ha, I meant that I was being anal, not that I moved it, you know, that way) to vacuum under.  But that's NOT the sore subject.  Oh, no. 

What possessed me?  What was I smoking when I thought that I could sell my crafty stuff and make money to cover Christmas for the kids?  Here's what I had at the 'craft' fair, and I say that because only four of the twenty five or so tables were stocked with actual crafts.  The rest were women who sell items to a) keep leftovers in or b) light on fire (tippywear and parrrrty light, that sort of gig).  Besides me, there was a woman who made beautiful fairy skirts and crowns, which I sadly could not afford; one who made stained glass windchimes and window hangings, very purty; and one who made fleece baby blankets and sleepers, one of which was blue with rubber ducks on it and I thought about getting it for Willow and cutting the feet off (it was newborn sized, but roomy though not long.  HUH?). 

The tall photo is of the vintage button magnets, which I thought came out nice. 

I could tell two hours into the day that it was going to be a bust.  People walked up to me, smiled, and said that my things were adorable and cute and on and on, but I only sold 43 bux worth of stuff.  That's including my brother and his girlfriend's 15 dollar purchase.  They wouldn't take stuff for free, and I only protested a little, because it cost me 30 for the table and 25 for the raffle donation.  We won't discuss how much I spent on materials, but let me say to the man who told me all about the garage sale where he saw thousands of cheap buttons: I would have preferred that information several weeks ago, and don't talk to me so long if you ain't buying, K?

I have another shot on Friday at an after school boutique at another school.  I hope I can at least recover some of my costs.  Like John said, the main bummer about all this is the vast amount of time that I spent.  I made 89 of the trees, 160+ pasta angels, and 140 button magnets.  The trees took the most time, and sold the least.  Well, it all sold the least, really. 

Life is all about learning.  I learned that I could have done a nice Christmas for the kids on what I spent trying to earn money to give them a nice Christmas, and that people are really really cheap.  (Except my mom, who offered to get gifts for the kids, and if I keep writing about how grateful I am, I'll start crying about it all over again. . .)  I also learned that toward the end of the day when people gushed over my stuff but didn't buy it (after I had cut the prices by 2/3 and a sale would still be losing money on each individual item) I thought nasty things about them and hoped they would spill red wine on their couches and get bleach on their favorite black dress.  And that the heels would fall off their shoes while they were out on a date.  And that the boss would catch them sending those dirty emails.  There were also thoughts about flat tires, identity theft, hives, migranes, and for one special person, rabies. 

I had fun with two of the women I sat with, (the fleece one, and one selling scrapbooking supplies) who also made absolutely no profit.  We bonded.  We wept. (not really, but sort of,  you know?)  We laughed at ourselves.  The woman who made the glass and the one who had the fairy skirts were both really nice, too. 

Friday had better be better or I'm gonna lose my sense of humor.  After all, I am weeks behind on my blog reading for nothing!!  Now I just have bunches of scarves and hats and other goodies to knit.  Time's a wastin'.  I'm going to go knit for a half hour before falling into bed. 

Oh, yeah, this week my former husband is going to France and my current husband is going to Seattle and Portland, so I get to take care of the kids all by my lonesome for a few days, minus the time away at the doctor Thursday morning (provided I finagle a babysitter), and the Friday afternoon craft fair, when my mom will be here with the kids.  Say a little prayer for her.  No, a big one. 

Or, at least, busy blogger.  I've been making ornaments and magnets for the craft fair (this Saturday, thank Maude).  I've also just started scarf #3 for holiday gift giving.  We'll see how many I can get done. 

I don't have photos of the others and I think the camera is off hiking in the woods with John.  I'll take some of all the stuff on Saturday. 

We're all on round three or so of this nasty cold.  Willow is dealing with her second double ear infection, and everyone sounds really hoarse and stuffy.  I'm ready for winter break, when the stress of the holidays is over and we can hang out in our pajamas and make cookies and watch too many movies.  I'll try and post more often.  In the meantime, read my honey's blog.