All Things Heather

The last 48 hours have been...

some of the scariest in my life.  My family is safe, my home is safe, unfortunately many in my community cannot say the same thing.  We were forced to flee on Monday evening, just as the flames began to crest over the hill behind my home.  I had been procrastinating leaving all day, no one really wants to leave their house but I knew it was time to go. Luckily a good friend of mine has a sister who lives a bit north, their family was gracious enough to take us in so we did not have to go to an overcrowded shelter.  It was quite a houseful with 4 kids, 3 dogs and 3 adults but it worked out better then I could have imagined.  As much as I've bitched about my little house in the last month I am counting my blessings that it didn't burn. I thought it burned, it was right in the middle of the burn zone but it didn't burn. 

Another So Cal. blogger made a comment recently on her blog implying that she wouldn't care if her stuff went up in flames. I'm sure she was just acting blasé about the whole thing but I'm a bit peeved.  I'm glad that her family and her house are safe but amid all the well wishes and concerned comments I kind of felt like giving her a big Fuck You.  Nothing personal but thousands of people lost their homes, a huge part of their lives, their irreplaceable memories.  Thousands of people may not have the income to easily replace their belongings or to build again.  To many of these folks it was more then just stuff, it was their life.  And to just be so casual about the whole thing just makes me kind of sick. My landlord watched her parents home burn on the evening news, 35 years of memories, of stuff, of lives.  My daughter's teacher lost everything in the fire, she didn't even have enough time to get any pictures off the walls.  So although many folks may be fine with their stuff going up in flames, have a little fucking respect for some of those who don't feel the same way.  Once again, nothing personal, she is a lovely blogger and does lovely work but I'm feeling a little sensitive right now.

So in the meantime we will continue to hunker down and hope for good weather.  My heart goes out to the community.  I think I might start a knitting drive for some of the victims.  A hand knit pair of socks may not bring their home back but it could make their feet happy for a couple seconds.  Take care.   

Southern California is on fire...

And I, of course, am right in the middle of it.  Needless to say, I'm a tad bit stressed.  I really don't want my house to burn down and it's a very real possibility right now.  Aargh. 

Frugality of birthdays...

Today is our first birthday party in the  new town.  The kids are thrilled and have asked at least a gazillion times in the last 24 hours - "Is it time?"  "Is it time yet?"  "Mommy I think we missed it."  "Is it time?"  I must say it will be nice to get out of the house for a bit even if it is with a bunch of screaming 3 and 4 year olds.  I have never contemplated gift giving  much,  but as the kids get older and we are invited to more and more parties I will say that I've begun to put a little more thought into what we give.  Children today are inundated with plastic crap made in Taiwan and fair trade aside, such toys  just gets very expensive.  The dilemma increases when invited to parties held by and for those folks that are at a higher economic level.  Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of craft cash to play but the reality is we are a single income military family and make do where we have to, and even a 20 dollar gift given 10 times a year starts to add up.  Regardless, it's not about the money, it's about the thought and the time that goes into giving or making something special rather then stopping by at the local Walmart on your way to the shin dig.

With this said, I really don't have anymore time then other folks to whip stuff out but I do try to go the non-traditional route.  I make something if I can, but if I don't have the time I try to find sound gifts from learning stores or even the local craft mart.   Kids love to create things and what better gift is giving them something they can do for themselves.  This time, I had a couple extra moments and made another delightful little craft bag for our new friend Isabella.

These are similar to the ones I did as party favors for a friend a while back. I decided to make the new design a little larger to accommodate a few more items.   Although you can't tell by the picture, the new bag is chocked full of paints, paper, markers, pencils, glitter and glue. Perfect for an on the go craft bag or for an evening at a restaurant.  The pockets really can be customized to accommodate just about anything whether it be game boys or art supplies.

   

The project can easily be completed with 1 fat quarter of fabric plus a little extra for the desired size pockets, some ribbon and a little bit of bias tape.  I'm lucky enough to have an embroidery machine to really personalize but it would be easy to make it unique by using fabric paints with stamps, painting free hand, or even using a freezer paper stencil.

Wrapped with simple tissue paper, a homemade card and flower from the garden - this makes for in my opinion a beautiful yet incredibly thrifty present.   Giving fair value to the fabric, I would say this entire thing cost me a little over 10 bucks to make and 99% of that was spent on the goodies to go in it. The fabric was from my stash.

   

Now the reality of it is, the above mentioned three year old was much more impressed with all the gazillions of plastic doohickeys she got.  But I know that in a couple weeks, when the novelty has worn off and all those doohickeys are on their way to goodwill, my bag will be used and used and used and used some more.    And I will admit I get a little tinge when my 4 year old announces in her sweet voice - "My mom made that, what did your mom make?"   It's not a competition people but I take small tiny self esteem victories when I get them, I may not be searching for the cure for cancer but I make a pretty mean craft tote!    

I'm not sure..

where my girls got their incredible fashion sense but it definitely wasn't from me.  The Halloween skirts were busted out on the sewing machine last night - made uber easy by a great tutorial from Kuky from back in the day.  For some reason both kids decided they wanted them ankle length, which is fine - better for next year.  Although, I will say that if my husband were around he would say they look like hooples, whatever that is.   Regardless, I guess you gotta be who you gotta be.

 

No big plans for the weekend, a birthday party, some down time.  I am getting a nervous for next week though. Makenna, my youngest is going in for surgery on her ears. She has been plagued with hearing issues and speech issues for some time so they are hoping that tubes will fix the problem and the figured while they are putting those in, they can poke around a bit to see what else is up in there.  I very rarely even medicate my children, let along volunteer them for surgery so I'm a tad bit stressed.  I put on a happy face and tell the world it's not big deal, I'm the confident and cool mom, but really, I'm a bit worried.  Luckily Makenna LOVE's doctors..I mean LOVES LOVES LOVES doctors, she has already declared in her little 2 year old way that she will be a doctor when she grows up so that makes things much easier. She LOVES doctors so much that she cries when we have to leave the doctors, spooky huh.  Doesn't she look like she is a little bit nuts...

P.S.  for all you tech savvy folks out there...I'm ready for a new banner, I'm not too picky, just  something simple and fresh.  I'll throw in a couple skeins of yarn to make it worth your time, lord knows I have enough.   Just drop me a line and let me know you are interested. 

P.S.S.  Thanks for all your birthday wishes.  It meant a lot!

Another year.

Happy birthday to me!

Joy - or lack thereof..

Susie made a profound statement in her earlier comment, profound to me  that is - simply put "I still choose joy."   I've been pondering these words carefully - pondering one in particular a bit more.  Choose.  That is a powerful word, you can choose to be happy or sad, choose to be grateful or not, choose to be kind to your neighbors but ugly to your children.   Choose to feed the right dog. (Anyone know what book that came from..it's my current favorite author.)    I guess I need to choose to find a way to get out of my rut, no matter how deep.  I am grateful, I do count my blessings everyday, I am joyful at times, but on the whole I just feel kind of sad.  I got news that my husband will not be coming home as planned in 2 weeks.  It's been nearly 4 months now that he has been officially gone, I did see him for a short time 2 months ago but on the whole it seems like an eternity.  It's not his absence that really bothers me, what really bothers me is not knowing when he will be back.  I try not to get my hopes up, but I do.  How to I choose not to be disappointed.  Choose to not be frustrated that he again won't be back when he was supposed to be back. Choose to be fine with another missed birthday, explaining to my 3 year old why daddy isn't here for it.  It's not his fault, it's not anybody's fault, it's a lifestyle we choose, it was a decision I made when I choose to marry him, it's still hard though, and frustrating.  So I will try to choose joy, and when I get used to the idea of trying I will choose to choose joy and maybe move on.  No more pity parties for me.

In the meantime I am keeping VERY busy starting things but not quite finishing them.   I'm about done with my new set of place mats, they just need to be quilted. And I'm actually making a sweater if you can believe it.  It's not far enough along to take a picture of. Or at least a picture worth looking at..who knew sleeves could take so freakin' long.

But I am working on this lovely thing, or should I say these since they will be a matching pair eventually. One of the inevitabilities of having 2 girls so close together, if you do it for one you better be prepared to do it for the other.  Although I do like sewing, I'm definitely not a quilter.  This one was ok and turned out rather nicely but all those precision cuts and quarter inch seams are just not for me.   I do have to say I loved arranging all the boxes together to make cultivated randomness, it was like a puzzle.  Stay tuned for a finished product one day.  And don't worry Zonda, I think I'll try to bind these myself!

   BTW..the fabric is Chocolate Lollipop from Anna Maria Horner..she is uber talented.

All washed up...

It never rains in San Diego, or at least that is what they tell me.  It rained today, which is fine.  A nice rain is good for the soul and good for the earth, but not so good for my laundry.  For whatever reason, I've made Saturday my wash day.  It's rained 2 days since I've been here, both on Saturday, maybe it's time to get a new wash day.

I continue to trod along in my new little world and for the most part I am really starting to like it here.  I've resigned myself to make the best of things, namely my new home.  Sometimes resignation is just what one needs, but I don't do resignation well.  Resignations leads to melancholy, and melancholy is just plain melancholic.  I just didn't see myself here, in this very spot, in this very house, at this point in my life.  I had grander visions of something more quaint, more me.  I guess it's about having a place that you can really make your own, about having a home that is a part of your soul. I want a home that is my own, I want to live somewhere that I love, someplace I can make roots.  I want my children to be able to know their friends for more then two years at a time and not feel like they always leave after they start to figure it out.  Actually, I just don't want to have to move anymore.  It's stressful, packing up all your belongings, making inventory of the crap that you have.  That is not good for the soul, realizing you have too much but not being able to let any of it go in case you might need it down the road.

Maybe I would feel better if I could actually finish a project from start to finish.  Not much of that going on either, lot's of starting, not enough finishing.   I would like to get my hands in the dye pot but seriously, I have NO room and I haven't figured out how to make room.  Yes, I do have a kitchen, a rental kitchen done in white tile with white grout (what in the heck are people thinking sometimes.)  It's a nightmare to scrub the counters, pomegranate juice gives me the chills.   Hubby will hopefully be home in the next 2 or 3 weeks, maybe when he gets here he can magically create  a space. He's not handy but he's not melancholic and the guilt of being out at sea for the last couple months (although it's really not his fault) might drive him to be uber productive.

Until then, it's just me and my poms.  They are truly tasty.

So I'm faced with a dilemma...

I have some ideas on how to bring color into my little house without any major redecoration, but now the problem is what colors to bring in. 

I'm starting with the living room since all I really plan to do is make some new throw pillows. Easy peasy.  Our couch is in the evergreen family and we have always coordinated with traditional colors of brown, burgundy and different shades of green. I'd like to break out of the rut but my issue is that our tiny dining room which is part of our tiny living room is painted burgundy.  Although they are separate rooms in theory, they are nearly adjacent and therefore have to somewhat coordinate.  I've got it down to two very distinct color palettes but I can't decide.

   

I'm starting with the living room since all I really plan to do is make some new throw pillows. Easy peasy.  Our couch is in the evergreen family and we have always coordinated with traditional colors of brown, burgandy and different shades of green. I'd like to break out of the rut but my issue is that our tiny dining room which is part of our tiny living room is painted burgandy.  Although they are separate rooms in theory, they are nearly adjacent and therefore have to somewhat coordinate.  I've got it down to two very distinct color palettes but I can't decide.  What do you think? Take the poll!

What do you guys think?  Of course I'm drawn to the pink/burgandy/evergreen combo since that is what I know - it is a bit of a fresh take though and would liven things up without upsetting the balance too much. On the other hand, I LOVE the blues and greens and think that it really pops and adds a nice feel to the couch. 

I have toyed with the idea of doing all pinks on one side of the pillow and blues on the other side, so I could flip it over but it could get a little crazy - cost wise and pillowise.

One last thing - these are the colors of the dining room. 

 

I apologize for the sub-par pictures, I haven't quite figured out the light in this house yet and it really is nearly impossible to get a decent shot of anything without good lighting - especially when it's back lit.   

The beast....

A while back I mentioned a new addition to our little family and it just dawned on me that she never came up again.  I guess a formal introduction is in line - blogging world meet Maya - Maya meet all my wonderful crafty friends out in internet land.

As some of you guessed correctly, Maya is an American Bulldog and let me tell you - she is a freakin' beast.  At 8 months old she currently weighs in at 70 lbs and is still packing on the weight.  She really is a fantastic animal and will make a wonderful companion in say - about 2 years.  Why so long?  Well, did I mention she is a beast.  I've grown up with animals my entire life and I really did not take the decision to get a dog lightly. I researched breeds for nearly a year, I finally decided and researched breeders. I picked one that would best fit my personality and needs (or so I thought) and I really did ponder the decision.  After all this pondering you would think that I had all the basics covered but I forgot one important thing.  My kids.   Young dogs are puppies, and puppies run and jump and nip and chew and pooh and pee and don't listen...and when those puppies weigh more then your kids do and they run and chew and nip and pee and pooh and do all the puppy things that puppy do, it makes for a lovely time.  I kick myself daily for getting this damn dog (although I do love her dearly) and often fantasize about humane ways of getting rid of her.  In the meantime, she is well loved and I anticipate she will be a great friend once she gets over her puppy stage.  Until then, lord help me.   

Still settling in...

I do want to apologize for not answering anyone's e-mail for sometime.  Until just a few days ago, I could receive but not send mail. Well, technically that's not true,  I could send e-mail if necessary but it was a big pain in the ass so unless it was tremendously urgent, I didn't respond.  With that said, I should be caught up in the next week and will be happy to chat with whomever about whatever.

Things are moving right along here and continuing to get settled in.  The house is starting to grow in me a tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny bit.  The girls are happy though and have met some new friends.  It's nice and all but my youngest continues  to ignore my abominations about not bringing friends into the house.  There is nothing quite like finally crawling into your bed after a tortuously long day only to find that your 2 year old has tucked her favorite "roly poly" bugs next to the pillow for you.  So sweet, I know.

One thing I am most certainly blessed with are some small but rather productive fruit trees in the back yard.  I have grapefruits and pomegranates coming out of the ying yang.  Those combined with all the oranges and limes I get from my CSA have me rolling in citrus juice. I decided to break down and actually buy a citrus juicer so I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival from amazon.  There really is nothing sweeter then squeezing out a fresh cup of juice in the morning. 

Pomegranate is still my favorite, I'll be sad when they are gone.

On the crafting front...I've actually been uber productive but do not have the pictures to prove it - or many finished products for that matter - I'm good at starting, not too great at finishing.  My house is tiny and in desperate need of some color and pizazz so figured a some funky fabrics might pick things up.  I'd rather like to just paint all the walls in rainbow colors but it's a rental and I don't think the landlady would appreciate it.  So, I've decided to put my fabric stash to good use and have begun the arduous process of making pillows, quilts, place mats and curtains. I'll be sure to update you if and when anything is finished.    Until then..many blessings...