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It is truly amazing the things that accrue over one’s lifetime. I remember being downright horrified when going through our stuff that was moved here from Alabama…a mere 3 years after the move when I finally went through the boxes. No one needs to move magazines, friends. Back issues of Cooking Light are just not that precious!
Having several people move recently and talk of moving has made me realize that I just own too much. Too many clothes, too many projects, too many magazines (my subscriptions have been pared down to only ONE now, though!!!), too many shoes…whoa…wait a second. I got a little overboard there. Who has too many pairs of shoes? That sounds absolutely crazy! Shoes and bags always fit, people. Don’t ever forget that!
So it is that I have spent the better part of my Saturday cleaning and shaking my head at the chaos around me. I should have taken before and after photos, but that is a little too much sharing, even for me. It took me an entire day to clean the back porch last week, another to clean the kitchen and today it has been the downstairs bathroom and Ellen’s bedroom. She has been “helping” by playing with each and every thing that has been buried under her enormous piles of books. That child has books I tell you!! I remember being banished to my bedroom to clean as a child and my idea of cleaning made my mother mental. I would line things up along the wall! Even now I giggle at how that must have crazed her. Another time I remember falling asleep under my bed while cleaning it out. Ah, the memories.
I am not the only one ridding myself of unwanted items in these parts. Ellen lost her first tooth today. [edit that...She lost her first tooth July 25 and it has taken me this long to get the picture uploaded to the new computer! Wow...what was I saying?] Her Boppa (my Dad) suggested the tooth fairy would give her $1,000,000 for it! For the record, she got a freshly polished half dollar.
Things that I do not like (Sam I Am):
Old Hickory (a boat that, while I am elated to be rowing, seems to soak me regardless)
Erg tests (another, the last of, the 2K tests “required” on the competitive team)
Waiting
Searching for a fit
Night classes (I thought it would be nice to take some to keep up with ASL over the summer…instead I already do not like being away at night)
Things I do like
Summer with Ellen
Hiking
Biking
Rowing (did you know it is still fun? Just takes an adjustment in the mindset!)
Friends
Birthdays (Ellen’s, mine, Kate’s, Ana’s…May was a good month)
When you apply yourself it is possible to pull a 100% out of your hat on a General Psychology exam?!?
I have finished several things and started more. Always too much on the needles.
I finished the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. I saw SouleMama doing it and it sent me straight to my stash. I think it is the first thing that I have ever went “straight to the stash” for and actually cast on and off with any persistence.
I also finished Habitat by Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed. Nothing inspires me to knit quite like the designs of Mr. Flood. Almost immediately I cast on a second hat and am toying with the idea of the accompanying fingerless mitts called Humanity by another Jared-lover. (as a side, E was all too happy to model the hat…as long as she could read while she did it…)
I finished a hat for a friend at church who has just finished chemo (no photo, it was on and off the needles in a couple of days), and am also finishing a vest I cast on long (long, long, long, long) ago. I have started a shrug for E that I am totally winging because I cannot find the book I knit the first one out of.
And that doesn’t even begin to cover the things that are older or in the cue…a knitter’s work is never done!
Seriously, Costco? This is ridiculous.
I will give this another shot. I will start with a photo from Christmas…and then another from a few days later. What is the difference?
Our dryer is on the fritz. At first I didn’t really realize what was happening. Like most, our laundry is located in the basement. So, I go down, change it, come back about an hour (or more) later and wonder why the clothes are still wet? Rinse, lather, repeat.
It took me one entire day to stand down there and wait (patience is not my thing) to see what was happening. There is a little button that has to be depressed in order for the machine to think the door is closed and it can dry the clothes. Once I figured this out, I went into the tool room and grabbed a piece of that stuff that can fix ANYTHING. A small square of duct tape later and my clothes were on their way to being dry.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I went down for my daily dose of housewifery and found this sight:
Last November I signed Randy up for Hockey school. I kind of knew at the time what I was getting into, although not quite to what extent. However, I knew that my turn would come and it has. I took classes and subsequently joined the Minnesota Boat Club. I love to row. I enjoy the rhythm of it. At first I had to concentrate on getting everything in the right order, but now it is easier to just do it. I am far from perfect. Far from an Olympic 40 stroke rate, but it is the first in a series of things lately that seem to fit me well.
When you spend a majority of your life trying to fit in, it is still a little surprising to me as an adult when a decision seemingly so far out of the box gives me such peace. This is not necessarily related to rowing, but I do think that rowing was the catalyst. After (only) 4 years of complete devotion to Ellen, I am remembering what it was like to look out for me. I feel selfish, but I think that is just a fact of motherhood. I am not sure any time would be right. I have enrolled in St. Paul College to seek a Sign Language Interpreter/Transliterator degree. I have always been drawn to ASL. I cannot remember the exact moment I knew I would do something in this field, only that time and again it gets dropped into my lap in various forms. I have always envied people with a passion for something. I have never felt this way about anything, but maybe I have and I was just not aware.
Wish me luck. I am going to go distract myself so as not to lose my nerve…
Alas, despite my best intentions I still leave you all (7?) in wait. Summer.
I cannot explain what it is that makes me so blasted aloof. I love people. I love to socialize. That crazy Meyers/Briggs thing? never taken it. But if I had I know I would score…wait lemme call Dana and ask what one I am. EPMD? Wait, No. ENFP. Yup, I am that one.
Point is, I am that one who gets the energy from others. So summer? When I scarcely see another soul from sunup to sundown and spend the entire day with my four year old? Not pretty.
And yet.
Do I call Sarah, or Dana, or any number of friends that I have? No I do not. I sit here and fester in my rotten excuse for parenthood. A.K.A Noggin. Check it out. Moose A. Moose? Good stuff, people. Educational programming.
There is a certain amount of ignoring that occurs in all of our lives, despite out best efforts. I think we should FEED those things. Where will they take us? Who knows? But at the end, we need to insure our happiness.
Because in the end, isn’t happiness our ultimate prize?
“easy cut – easy sew” according to the envelope. It really was. I could have finished this in one sitting if I had just tried to. The spring cleaning/house purge is on since I will be having major house guests in May. While we were home before Christmas I did my uncle the service of culling through my aunt’s voluminous stash of fabrics, patterns and ephemera and came home with some real winners. This is the first one I have knuckled down and sewn and I can almost guarantee I will be making more. The pocket was a last minute addition, since I have noticed that we have entered the “treasure collection” phase of her life. I swear, if I wash one more pocket full of stones I will break the washer. Maybe some day I will learn to check pockets first?
