Stubborn pays off

Long ago (at least 8 years ago, ie pre-serger) and far away (in Iowa), I cobbled a couple patterns together to make a nursing dress from plum floral rayon challis. I only wore it once or twice and I can’t remember why; I think the nursing openings either didn’t open (or worse, didn’t close). So the dress spent several years stashed in a bin, until last winter I turned it into a skirt. I removed the bodice, and cut out a waistband from the back. And then it got stashed again, until this week when I finally hemmed it so I would have something new to wear on Sunday morning.

And look! It goes with the same green sash I’m wearing in his baptism picture (okay, you can’t really see it in this picture, but trust me, it is there).

Cooperation

There they went again, Bouncy Boy and Silly Boy. Voices raised, tattle reports flung in my direction, Duplos flying, and then there was a smack.

I thought about sending them to their respective rooms, but then they would just sit and stew about having the world’s worst brother. I thought about sending them outside to walk laps while holding hands, an idea I borrowed from Charity, but there is construction on our block right now and I was too busy sewing Drama Boy’s confirmation suit to go outside and supervise.

I called them to me, and while they pushed and grunted at each other and I reminded them they were brothers, an idea started to develop. I looked in my ribbon drawer, but decided to use pony tail holders instead. Bouncy Boy’s right arm was banded to Silly Boy’s left arm, and they would stay that way until lunchtime (less than an hour). Someone tried to pull the bands off; I told them if they did that I would have Daddy buy handcuffs on his way home for lunch. Bouncy Boy’s eyes lit up at the word “handcuffs” and then quickly darkened again as it dawned on him what I had in mind.

Once they were resigned to their fate, and had been given a few suggestions on working together, I returned to my sewing. They wandered off and returned together: can we watch a movie? Now, the next time I might expect them to spend the whole time figuring out how to play banded together, but this time I decided it was enough for them to pick up the Legos together and then watch a movie. And so they did. . .without fighting!

When Larry came home, they were summoned upstairs to explain to him why they had been banded together, and he gave them one more joint assignment: put away Bouncy Boy’s laundry before lunch. They did, perhaps not very well, but they were unbanded. How long do you suppose they will cooperate before I need to get out the bands again?

Confirmed in Christ

Today, Reformation Sunday, marked the confirmation of faith for Drama Boy and his three classmates at our church. His confirmation verse is Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Somehow it seems as if it were only yesterday that we brought our wee firstborn to the waters of baptism.

Faster than delivery

And tastier, too! As I’ve said before, Friday night is pizza night here in Neverland. I have several pizza crust recipes. . .the one below is the one I use when time (or energy) is short and I don’t want to call Pizza Hut. In the interest of full disclosure, baking more than one pizza may take a little longer than delivery, but not much.

No Rise Cornmeal Pizza Crust

Yield: 2 15″ pizza crusts

Stir together:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons yeast
2 cups warm water
Then add:
2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Dash black pepper

Mix well and turn out onto a floured countertop. Knead until elastic; roll out or flatten to desired shape, about 1/8-1/4″ thick. Top as desired, then bake at 475° for 10-12 minutes or until crust edges turn golden. I usually bake the crust 5 minutes, add the toppings, and then bake 5-7 minutes or until done. Also, I vary the grains based on what I have; tonight I used 3 cups whole wheat and 3 cups all purpose flour as I was out of cornmeal.

Add a movie and. . .enjoy!

Thank you

I appreciate all the calendar suggestions given yesterday! I forgot to mention that I had tried using a wall calendar (from FlyLady) a couple of years ago and just don’t like having to write everything by hand (and when life changed, the stickers were stuck and pen doesn’t erase). So I think I’m going to try using Google calendar; even though it won’t sync with any devices I own, it does sync with something which is more than I can say for Windows calendar. Perhaps next year, when our vehicles are all our own, I can look into upgrading. . .maybe by then the iPhone will play nicely with Verizon.

Dates

I’ve always been the organized type, but lately I’ve struggled to find a system that works for me. I used a  wall calendar through high school; now I have outgrown the squares. In college I used the ubiquitous student planner (are those obsolete now?) year round to keep track of homework, work schedules, and the occasional social event. As a new wife and then mother, I first tried the wall calendar and then switched to a small version of the dayplanner. It was still too big for my purse (I travel light) so I usually left it laying on my desk at home: not very convenient.

So it was that I jumped when Larry bought me my very own pda for my 29th birthday. I happily used it for a few years until he upgraded his pda and mine would no longer sync with the updated version of Palm desktop. Soon after that he upgraded mine as well and life was good again. Until last year, when my Palm slowly stopped holding a charge and had to be reset regularly. . .it now belongs to Boy Genius who doesn’t have as much data to lose.

That leaves me high and dry! I’m not inclined to spend my money on another Palm just from the standpoint of not wanting that many gadgets in my purse. I have heard that Outlook would sync with my iPod, but I’m too cheap to buy Outlook just for the calendar. Instead I have been using Windows Calendar, which syncs with nothing and doesn’t work as well as the Palm calendar. I’ve looked at Google calendar and it confuses me, as well as makes me wonder how secure my information would be online.

How do you juggle all those bits of information about who needs to be where and when, so that unlike me you don’t forget to take Bouncy Boy to Cloverbuds the week that it starts early because of the public school schedule? Cheap and easy to use suggestions would be much appreciated!

Tax dollars at work

Once more, the Social Security Administration spent time and money mailing me a four page letter detailing the fact that I haven’t worked enough to receive benefits. Except for selling Creative Memories in 2000-01, I haven’t had any taxable income since 1996. Do they think I didn’t notice that I work for free, and therefore have not paid taxes? Or perhaps I had forgotten in the twelve months since receiving last year’s nearly identical letter?

I can appreciate there may be individuals or circumstances where this information is needed. But if this letter is sent to all adults on an annual basis, it seems to be a waste of resources for an already top-heavy program. It doesn’t take an expert in demographics to recognize that our nation’s declining birthrate can’t indefinitely support the Social Security program as we know it.

Sewing panic

Family vacation is looming, and I’m doing it to myself again. . .my head is positively spinning with all the clothes I want to make before we go. It’s not like I never sew for myself the rest of the year, but somehow the mental packing makes me realize how many holes are in my wardrobe. Complicating the matter this time is the fact that I promised to sew Drama Boy a new pair of dress pants for his confirmation (next Sunday!) and the fact that I have a couple more gift projects I would like to finish and deliver on our trip. Thankfully in the past few days I’ve gotten the pants nearly finished and only have one large gift to complete as well as a smaller one to sew. . .but my sewing time is limited, unless I ignore other things like cleaning or cooking or teaching.

I suppose the top of my sew-for-me list is a new nightgown; now that my nursing days are over I find I only have one somewhat natty long sleeved gown that I’m not keen to wear at other people’s houses. After that is probably a skirt or two and a cardigan from the wool jersey I just ordered. I would really like more blouses but I don’t have the fabric and their details take me a little longer to sew. A winter church outfit that packs well would be nice; I have fabric but suspect I will run out of time.

What about you? Do you think of all kinds of things you’d like to do at home when you’re supposed to be getting ready to not be home for a couple weeks?

Lions and–oh my!

At church yesterday morning, we found out that a mountain lion has been spotted in a yard in our town. . .less than a block from our house. Oh my!! Drama Boy and I did some online research to find out a little more about the habits of mountain lions, in the interest of preparedness. They tend to hide in areas of heavy vegetation and are mostly likely spotted at dawn or dusk. We also learned that deer are among their favorite prey–well that makes sense, being as mule deer boldly wander our local streets–and thus feeding the deer in turn can attract mountain lions. Oh dear. So our neighbor’s habit of feeding the deer not only means unwanted “fertilizer” in our yard, it could also be the reason the mountain lion has been in our neighborhood.

I did it!

I knitted a garment! Well, okay, socks and scarves are garments too. . .but this time I did a whole vest. Here is Boy Genius, in the vest I made for his birthday picture (when he’ll wear it with a white dress shirt and khaki or black slacks).

I used the vest from Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns but eliminated the side seams by knitting the bottom half in the round. I kept it simple, using stockinette stitch with bands of garter stitch at the waist, armholes, and neck. The yarn is City Tweed DK from KnitPicks, and I twisted his arm to get this flattering blue-green “Enchanted” color (he loves orange, but it doesn’t love him back).

I’m very happy with the end results, and so is Boy Genius (that’s a big smile for him!). I especially liked using the Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns, which is by Ann Budd, and look forward to using it again and again. The charts and directions are set up so that you can select your garment size and knitting gauge and get to work, rather than trying to find yarn/needles to match a specific gauge. The garment designs are basic, perfect for beginners. . .or for using your own imagination to create something unique.