Tippy Toes and Tantrums

January is Ambitious

I love Project Runway, but I haven't watched it yet this season. It is on the DVR, just waiting for me, but I can't bring myself to watch it when I feel guilty for ignoring my growing list of sewing projects. Watching someone sew would only add to the guilt. In the meantime, I have been bookmarking project after project on Sew, Mama, Sew! Every few days I go through the new projects and I think "January. I can do this in January!"

Either Really Good or Really Bad, But with Marshmallows

The week is kicking off with a planned power outage to allow the power company to repair some equipment. They sent us a notice that included tips for handling the power loss where the main helpful hint was "keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed." Really? It also said not to worry because refrigerated food will last for four hours. The only problem being that the outage is scheduled for five hours. Good work!

If the outage was on Tuesday, it would be fine, as Clover and I are heading out for a mom and kid camping trip with five other moms and their kids that morning. But of course it is slated for the day I really need power. I planned ahead: all of the clothes has been washed and I've put as much food into the freezer as I can.

I'm looking forward to the trip with only Clover. It will be interesting if her horrible attitude of late will disappear once her brother is out of the picture. Mostly I am looking forward to having conversations with my friends that are not abruptly ended as I chase after Rocket. I'm going to miss the snuggly moments with Rocket, but not the racing, chasing and hurrying that takes up 98% of my day.

Last week I had to take the kids with me to a fabric giveaway at the home of an older couple who somehow get all the samples and other large scraps of fabric from the San Francisco Design Center. The point is to keep the fabric out of landfill and the only requirement is that we do not sell what we get. I got 31 pieces, mostly large, but some fat quarters. I didn't have time to really carefully consider my pieces because I was so busy trying to keep Rocket in his sling while he tried to climb out to chase dogs. It was the first time we've used our sling in two months and it was impossible because while he fit fine, he is not sedate enough - even for a moment - to sit and look out like all the other toddlers used in the ads for various slings. He needs to go and run and hit and touch. It was stressful, so I pretty much held him in with my left arm and grabbed what caught my eye, put them into my small Tub Trug with my right arm and got the kids back to the car before they could cause any damage. I envied the two other moms who were there without their children, slowly going through the many piles of fabric, piece by piece. Still, I did well. I should have brought the large trug, as the small one wasn't big enough. Now hopefully I will have an afternoon soon to go through the pieces and work on some projects.

The trug had to be emptied out of fabric for use on the camping trip. I wish I had bought two large ones instead of one big, one small. I've only had them for two weeks and not only have I used them quite a bit, but the kids love to play with them. I'm on the lookout to see if I can find them locally because I had to order my two from a garden supply site and the shipping cost sucked.

We've got a ton of snacks packed for camping, including enough smores ingredients for an army. Clover was disappointed to learn that people eat things other than smores while camping; she thought that is what we were going to have for every meal. Now she is obsessing over roasting marshmallows, worrying how to do it with catching herself on fire. She's never been camping, so I can only imagine what she is thinking. It seems she thinks you hold a marshmallow between your thumb and index finger and hold it over the fire until either it is soft or your flesh is burning. This should be fun.

I'll be back at the end of the week when my mother-in-law and brother-in-law come to visit. If I come home feeling refreshed from being Rocket-free for three days, the visit should go well. My guess is that I will come home dirty and tired with no patience for what is assuredly going to be a trying visit.

Lost Gifts and Blood

After finishing up the dolls and extended family stockings for the year, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. Unfortunately I have a huge pain in my finger to remind me. In my hurry to finish the last stocking, which was also my last piece of sewing for the year (I keep saying "for the year" because it sounds so grand and long term, when it is not) I was about two inches from finishing when I sewed my finger.

I don't know what happened, it was all so fast, but I was trying to move the two thick pieces of wool felt through my machine, when I got too close to the needle before I could get my foot off the pedal. It was pain, a thunk noise and blood. There was so much blood that I immediately thought it would never stop, but really, that was the worst of it. I pulled the needle out with my teeth and ran for the bathroom. After I got the bleeding to stop and the whole thing bandaged up, I returned to the machine. I was so close to finishing that I couldn't let my finger prolong the project. The felt was also white, so I wanted to get back to the machine quickly to see if there was any blood on the stocking (there was not). It was even harder to get the felt moving, then I saw that the sharp point ended up going through the presser foot (it was a plastic one I left on after doing applique work) and it was dragging on the felt. Kevin was able to get it out, allowing me to finish, but I still wonder what happened. Did the sharp point go through my finger, leaving the blunt part inside? Either way, it makes me wince. And two days later it still hurts, but less so, but enough to make typing awkward.

The moment I finished the stocking, I cut the thread and put away the machine without pausing. I wanted it out of the way, giving me space to clean my desk, which has added clarity to my world. Despite a few small things, we are ready for Christmas. I am not ready for our beach trip, however, which means laundry and packing need to be done, and some "serenity now" chants for dealing with my inlaws.

I pulled out all the gifts I had yesterday and came up slightly short. I have a small gift for Clover and Kevin, but I cannot find it anywhere. I hide gifts when I buy them, but I hide them too well and spend unnecessary time looking for them. I need to find the gift because it was a fun stocking stuffer and will be less fun when I find it sometime in the future. What annoys me most is that this is something my mother does. In, let's say March, she'd clean out a closet (and I use "clean" loosely because my mom is unorganized and messy) and find a gift and say "I forgot to give this to you at Christmas two years ago," and it would be something lame like a holiday watch with bright red glitter straps, a picture of a tree on the face and gifts going around on the hands. I don't want to be like that!

Trying Not to Drown

My desk is such a mess, it is no wonder I can't get anything organized lately. After looking at the picture, I realized my wedding picture proofs (in the pink and while toile box) are there taking up space. We've been married for five year, so it isn't like I am ordering more photos. They need a new home.

With time quickly winding down before Christmas, I have five dolls to finish, and in the past two days I have decided to drop the project, then decided to pick it up again about 80 times. Two of the dolls needed to be finished by tomorrow as they are for a friend's children and they all leave Saturday morning for the East Coast, but that is not going to happen. I decided to give them to the kids when they return, which buys me some time. Another doll for my goddaughter has to be finished and wrapped by Sunday, and honestly, if not for her, I would have given the project up. I don't have a back up gift. We'll give her some money in addition to the doll, but money alone seems like a lame gift for a three year old, which has forced me to continue on with the dolls. I could delay the whole project, but honestly, I just want them done, and really, they aren't hard, it is just a matter of finding time.

We went to the mall to see Santa today, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. Rocket looked at the camera and Clover smiled (she refused last year). I couldn't ask for more.

For my sister's birthday yesterday, she and I went to the Cheesecake Factory (yes, there are better places, but it was her birthday and her choice) and Kevin asked me to bring home a piece of cheesecake for him. I did, but he decided to save it for tonight. I didn't eat it this afternoon, but I did scrape the whipped cream off into a bowl and I ate that. It was good and not Reddi-Whip, as the woman next to us worried. She kept telling the waitress that she wanted "REAL" whipped cream, not Reddi-Whip. The waitress had to tell her about five times that indeed it was real. And I can attest that it was good.

Partially Ready

Another day that I planned to sew has come and (almost) gone without any movement of my sewing machine. I'm getting a little stressed about my list of projects, as I am not making any progress. To make things less stressful, I decided that I'm not going to expect to get all 24 advent stockings completed, but that whatever I do complete will be fine and I'll use envelopes or something else to round out the days. Then I can finish the stockings next year. The problem is I am beginning to worry that I am not going to get any completed at all. Ughhhhh...

As I filed and cleaned up my desk today, I did read a few blogs to get some ideas for what activities to use in the calendars. While we may not have stockings, we have 24 activities to do together as a family and that is what is most important (at least that is what I keep repeating to myself). The amazing SouleMama posted her run down of advent stockings on Kiddley, but my ultimate inspiration came from Stephanie at the beautiful Little Birds Handmade.

Here are some of our activities, which I am posting because I found it very helpful to read others' ideas:
hot chocolate with all the fixings
drive around to look at Christmas lights
special Clover-daddy day out (SF Zoo to see the reindeer)
special Clover-mommy day out (Nutcracker in SF)
use puppets to tell a bedtime story
eat dinner by candlelight
star gazing
watch home movies
breakfast for dinner!
play board games

Clover is going to love it. December is such a busy month for us, crammed full of activities, and I hope that carving out some family time together, even just a little bit each day, will add to our enjoyment of the season. And hopefully Clover has forgotten the chocolate advent calendar she had last year because she is going to be mad when she finds out she could be having chocolate every day instead.

"They Think it's Christmas!"

I'm not a person who shops for Christmas gifts year round, buying sweet little gifts for people when I run across something appropriate, in say March. This year, inspired by Martha Stewart and other craft bloggers, I've decided to make my own Advent calender in the form of little stockings that I can fill with things better tailored to my daughter than the standard chocolate filled calenders. Actually, that isn't true. Nothing is better tailored to my daughter than chocolate, but I want to do something that could potentially involve the whole family or at least feature candy better than what one gets for $1.99. Because I am still somewhat new to sewing and my machine, I need to begin this project now. Especially since I've further complicated it by deciding to make Christmas stockings as gifts too. I need to work out designs and the necessary supplies this week so I can place orders and get things moving.

This year we've decided to spend the full Christmas holiday with my in-laws at a rented beach house. We made the decision to only be with one family because the traveling between the many family parties shoved into two days produces toddler meltdowns, plus last year my mom added some things (more and more candy) to Clover's Christmas stocking after I had filled it and gone to bed. This was despite a conversation we had before where I explained that as the mother, only I would fill Clover's stocking and that my mother should leave it be. This is typical passive-aggressive behavior exhibited by my mother. I should be used to it, but I am not.

My parents go all out on Christmas, pretending that my sisters, myself and now Kevin are children, filling our stockings from Santa and flooding the area under the tree with tons of gifts. It is almost embarrassing, but we love it. I am almost surprised they don't still video tape us running down the stairs toward the tree in the morning.

This Christmas will be my first away from them and Kevin's family does Christmas in a much more reserved way. They can wait days to open gifts, whereas I am used to a melee of wrapping paper upon waking Christmas morning. Kevin's family also doesn't really seem to care about lists or what people may want or need when giving gifts, which leads to disappointment and always someone mumbling, "What were they thinking?" after the gift exchange. I've decided to try to infuse some of my family's traditions into Kevin's family gathering this year, thus the stockings. I thought it would be fun if I made stockings for everyone, then filled them after everyone went to sleep on Christmas Eve. This would be their gift, as well. It sounds fun and easy, but it could just as easily be difficult and not well received, like when I sent Kevin's parents an email last year as a way of announcing our pregnancy with Rocket. There were three photos attached and a fourth attachment that was a scan of the ultrasound photo. We didn't hear from them. For days. Finally Kevin asked if they got the email, had to further prod about there response to the photos, and he was told they saw the ultrasound photo, but thought it was some sort of accidental attachment. I should also note that when Kevin's parents do not understand something, they usually assume that I am retarded and screwed up in some way.

This brings me to the stockings. My goal for this week is to get a general template of the stocking shape made and some idea for the designs, so I can figure out how much wool felt is needed and what colors I need to track down. I am worried that I am beginning too late and that I'll run out of time. At the store the other day, Clover laughed and said, "They think it is Christmas!" when she saw the decorations already out. Because stockings are on my mind, this year I don't think that the stores are rolling out the holidays too soon. Soon I hope to be knee deep in Christmas too.