Mailman Stalking

I've been known to stalk the mailman. I wasn't expecting this until tomorrow.

So, lesson learned. If you want/need something quick, order from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I ordered less than 48 hours ago. Shipping was free and it came from Washington State to Washington D.C. I'm not even sure how that's possible.

I've already cut into the dotted swiss. I couldn't contain myself. The blouse pattern is "beginner", so hopefully #1. I'm going to love it. and #2. I can whip a bunch of them out for the June challenge in just a little bit of time. We'll see. The other piece is going to be a skirt. (Both from my meager "adult fabric" stash. The skirt fabric is another feedsack from the 30's.)

My other mail...

I was stalking the mailman for this. It was supposed to come yesterday and then got held up in PA somewhere. Boo.

The only problem on a good mail day is now I don't know which to do; sew or read?

I need more skirts.

It goes like this: Uncle Chig's (who isn't really my uncle)wife Millie had a sister named Rosie who had some vintage fabric in her stash. Rosie was the mother of my neighbor Nancy (Who my kids used to call Grandma Nancy...but yeah...no relation.)Anyway, before she died, she gave me a pile of flour/feedsacks from maybe the 30's.

At that time, I had a sewing business. I could have made something awesome and then would have sold it for a nice sum back in those days. But, I didn't. I couldn't. I had some weird attachment to these two pieces. They've sat on my shelf for some years. Every now and again I'd go look at them and try to get inspired.

Their fate was determined one night around midnight when I wanted to sew and didn't have enough of any suitable fabric to make a skirt. This is a (much altered) version of McCalls 5430; a pattern that is labled a "1 hour skirt".

I suppose if I sewed like normal people, it might have taken an hour. But, I don't. My altering consisted of random chopping (because the skirt was long and I am not), an extra buttonhole and probably a whole lot of other things (considering I only consider instructions suggestions and therefore don't read them).

In the end, I love it. So much, I might make about 20 more of them.

Exactly 10 Hours

The front end:

The Middle...after winning 3 back to back games:

The Back End...exactly 10 hours after we left the house, we pulled back into the driveway. 5 games were played. They were 2 goals short of being undefeated and SMYLA champs. I wasn't planning on giving 10 hours to lacrosse to today, but it was worth it. I want to remember every detail.

When will he be too old for me to call him "cute"? Because, he's freakin' adorable, don't you think?

Looking back...

I did not do such a good job of updating the minutia of what comprises my time. Good minutia. Here goes:

Any guesses on what I'm going to make?

A key ingredient. If you are going to make Thai food, you need this.

What about now? (I only used a little of this wine that was previously being decorative for the past year on my side table. I might drink the rest after I get finished with my yard work today. Because today is going to be awesome. I have absolutely no commitments and Ryan is taking the kids to the movies which means I'll be alone in my own house. That never happens.)

It's Thai Basil Chicken! I could copy the recipe for you, but it's not like I own it or anything. I use this one. It's mild enough everyone will eat it. I double the recipe we like it so much.

I leave for work too early to eat breakfast. I'm one of those people who can't eat until mid-morning. (Unless it's Indian food. I can eat that at 5 a.m.) But, it was testing week and everything was out of whack. I was proctoring at mid-morning. (Which is about as fun as it sounds. Maybe less so.) For all who know me, you know the concept of cereal nauseates me. It's the milk factor. Blech. But, dry cereal with nuts and dried fruits isn't too bad. I'm sure there are a billion calories in this, but I clearly didn't care.

Cupcakes. Does it seem like I'm forever making cupcakes? I've had this habit for years. They are the cheapest, easiest-peasiest thing to make and take whenever I or my kids need a dessert for something. And who doesn't love cupcakes?

Girlie let me braid her hair. That hasn't happened in many years.

I cut out a skirt from some vintage 1930's flour sacks. It will only take about an hour to sew this, but I still haven't done it yet. Maybe next week.

Occasionally, I cave to my kids' requests for dinner when they swear they don't like and won't eat whatever it is I'm making (even when I know half the time they will end up trying and liking whatever it is). How ridiculous is it to drag out the indoor grill for hot dogs? It made them happy though.

Because we were having butternut squash and onion soup.

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And lastly, sadness. When I became a teacher, I had no idea the kids they gave me would become "my kids". Forever. Who knew I would get teary-eyed when the bell rang on their last day with me before graduation? Who knew my heart would be joyful when they went out and did great things and broken when they made bad decisions that left them dead or in jail? These kids were my first kids. And, my heart is broken. RIP Spencer Datt and Johnny Hoover. And Kevin, I don't even know what to say to you other than 20 is so young to have to look down the road to your future when you know where you've been. My guess is there isn't anything they can do to you that will outweigh the places your mind is going to take you. 20 is too young for that to be.

Quiet

For those who are trying to contact me: There is too much to do, too many people talking, I'm too attached to the e-mail and phone. I'm forever running around. I can't get anything done. I can't hear that still small voice I need to hear. By nature, I'm a loner and crave quiet. So, I'm hibernating as best I can and seeking quiet.

I've been spending my time doing everything I love at a relaxed pace; gardening, sewing, cooking, reading... And, it's nice.

Maybe I'll come out of my shell next week.

This will be a challenge.

Check it out: Me-Made-June '11

I haven't done a challenge in a long, long time. The thought of this makes me happy...until I remember I don't really have very many items of clothing I've made. June is probably going to be a "skirt month". I always want more skirts. I'm also going to have to include bags and other accessories under the category of "something I'm wearing". Someday, perhaps I'll have enough garments to be able to pull it off entirely.

(The Pledge)
"I, Melissa, signed up as a participant of Me-Made-June '11. I endeavour to wear something I've made each day for the duration of June 2011."

Summer 2011

Comfort Books

I love books. I mean really love them...to the point I cannot even allow myself to read during the school year, because I don't have any self-control when it comes to books. Once I start reading, I cannot stop until the book is finished. And then I mourn the loss of the characters from my life until new ones enter. Repeat. These habits can be somewhat problematic to my other worlds (i.e. Being prepared to teach, making sure my kids have eaten, etc...).

I typically have a summer reading list. Until today, I hadn't even started one. This morning, I realized I want to re-read my lifetime favorites.

My Top 10 Books (In no particular order and I will admit I may remember I have another favorite or six tomorrow I forgot to include today.):

1. My Antonia-Willa Cather. I read this book when I was in college for a history class on American women. It's a lot of things for a gentle kind of book. This is my favorite book of all time.

2. A Prayer for Owen Meany-John Irving. Either you can read Irving or you can't. Either you love his work, or you don't. I'm in the "can read" and "love him" categories. Of his works, I love this one best.

3. East of Eden-John Steinbeck. I've tried to read Grapes of Wrath a dozen times and have never made it very far in before declaring it a boring waste of time. I had given up on Steinbeck as a contender for my time and then stumbled upon this masterpiece. According to the experts, it has literary flaws; too many characters, not enough development, too long, etc... Ummm...who are experts to tell me what I'm going to love? Literary flaws or not, hands down this beats Grapes of Wrath which is supposedly the masterpiece.

4. The Good Earth-Pearl S. Buck. Can you believe this was my favorite book in 5th grade? I've read it a few times again as an adult and am always intrigued as to what I could possibly have gotten from it when I was 11. It was on my grandma's shelf and I picked it up early in the evening. I did not sleep until I had read the whole thing through. It's a long book for an 11 year old to read straight through. It took me all night and all the next day to do it.

5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-Betty Smith. Another gem I pulled from my grandma's shelf as a child. This book took over my favorites list when I was 13.

6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou. I was obsessed with Maya Angelou's works when I was around 16. Truly obsessed. I believed she was a genius. I'm choosing this title simply because it was the book that introduced me to her work and the door which led to so many other great books and authors.

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini. I didn't really like The Kite Runner. It was o.k., but it didn't mow me over. This book...how is it that the same author wrote two books with such differing styles? For everything The Kite Runner didn't give me, this book gave me. Many times over. This book made me weep and has haunted me since.

8. The Poisonwood Bible-Barbara Kingsolver. If you can ignore that the author has projected her politics through her fiction, this is an awesome book which tells the story of all Hell breaking loose as a result of human tendency. I've only read it once. It has sufficiently stayed with me long enough to deserve a second read-through and to take up a space in my list of favorites.

9. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee. What can I even say that hasn't already been said a thousand times over? We listened to this on tape a few years ago and this book became a favorite of my then 7 year old son. Ignoring the fact we obviously have the same taste in books (How awesome is that?), if a book can be the favorite of both a 7 year old and a 35 year old, you know it has to be good.

10. The Screwtape Letters-C.S. Lewis. The thing about Baptist Universities is their required reading lists are a little different than what one may find on non-Christian campuses. I am not a fan of the Narnia series (because I'm bored by it) Lewis is possibly most famous for and therefore maybe never would have read this had it not been on the list. I first read it in 1995 which was the year a single event undoubtedly changed my life in so many ways-beginning with a journey into the darkest of the dark places and then back out again. Coincidental or not, the timing of this reading was impactful; not because it is a comforting or even joyful book, but because it satisfied my analytical mind when I needed something new to think about.