my room: bring it on

Well, I dont have to climb a mountain to clean my room, but I do have to do some ironing to start with. I have that chair that everyone has in their room. The chair that holds the to-be-ironed, the to-be-handwashed, the to-be-put-away-when-I-feel-like-it. So today the ironing is getting done. Two shirts done before lunch (one being a no-iron Lands End oxford- oh the irony!). I think I can get another couple done during rest time and finish the rest tonight.

It is in the low 60's, and may be our last day for the park for a while, so i am going to seize the day and go out, leaving the rest of the room for tomorrow, when it is going to be rainy and the boys will be with their grandmother.

Go me!

cultivate gratitude for all things

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude. - Emerson

spices: done (pretty much), recipes: in progress, bedroom: dont ask

well, the spices are done. How i forgot to get dill when I was at the grocery and it right there on my list is beyond me.

the recipes are spread on the dining room table. who knew how many recipes i had torn from magazines? Tons. And i seem to have a lot of salad recipes. The continual quest to get my children to eat vegetables.

my room? still the center of chaos. It will need a solid chunk of undivided attention, so it probably wont happen until Joel is home or mom takes the boys for an afternoon.

goal today: finish recipes

progress on the plans

today's accomplishment toward my goals:
bought the necessary spices for my jars.

tomorrow's goal: fill them

thanksgiving to do list

I am fortunate to not have to cook 15 different dishes for Thanksgiving. But I do have a list of things I would really like to get done around the house with this week off.

-- fill up my spice jars. I have a cutesy little spice rack by my stove in which about half of the jars are empty. I have replacements to fill them with, I just never take the time too and I just use the spices straight from the refills. This will take me half an hour tops if I have all the necessary spices, but it is one of those things that just dont get done around here.

-- clean my room. I make the boys clean theirs every day, well at least pick up the floor. But my room is the final resting place for all the homeless items around here. Things to go to Goodwill, clothes that need ironing, old magazines, mismatched socks. They are all there, waiting for me to put them where they belong. This may take a couple days if I have to get stuff to Goodwill and with interruptions.

-- organize my cookbooks and recipes. This is really a pitiful thing to behold. The shelf that houses my cookbooks is full of cards, printed off recipes and little scraps of paper with cryptic things written that made sense for some recipe at some time. I have a recipe box, I have a binder to keep my printed off ones. If I can lay it all out and not get off task, I think I can tackle it in an hour or two.

So, there it is. I hope to post my progress on these things and include before and after shots, just for accountability's sake.

calling all seamstresses! I need your help!

Please pass on this post to anyone you know who knows a thing or two about sewing clothes.

A couple years ago a woman who was moving gave me a bunch of fabric. She was a real seamstress, not a play around craftster like me. I think she went to fashion school or something.

Anyway, I thought she had given me several kinds of regular jersey knit fabric, but yesterday I realized that one piece she gave me is actually seamless tubular CVC jersey knit fabric. (I had to look it up because I didnt even know what it was called.)

Basically it is a big old tube of black knit jersey fabric. I think it is used to make dresses or tshirts or something.

The problem is : I have no idea what to do with it. I thought about making a black dress or swimsuit cover up, but it is super wide, like the tube itself is one yard wide, so I could basically fit two of me in it. But then it seems a waste to cut up a seamless thing, only to make more seams. But then I dont really even know if I can cut it up or would it all unravel?

Anyway, if you know what can be done with this strange beast, especially something within the abilities of a novice, please leave a comment. Thanks!

preparing to prepare

You know the Nativity fast is near when your grocery list looks like this:

olives
almond milk
chickpeas
peanut butter
popcorn
nuts
shrimp
black beans
veggie burger
cilantro

the upside to poverty

the logic of a five year old boy:

"You know there is one good thing about being poor. Poor people get to have clothes like pirates all the time!"

thinking about friendship

I am in a book club with some wonderful women. We are reading Sacred Companions which has me thinking a lot about friendships.

One revelation I had was that someone who was once a friend can stop acting like a friend and become just a co-worker, a neighbor or a fellow parishioner. That has happened to me and I can look back and see that the hurt I felt was a mourning for the lost relationship.

We moved to this community over two years ago and I feel that I am still constructing a network of good friendships. It is not easy and because of past hurts, I feel like I am always testing the ice to see if the new friendships are real and strong enough to support me.

Being a mother, a homeschooling mother at that, doesn't always help. My house always has projects and books out. There are rhythms that we have established that don't lend easily to spontenaety. But my need for friendships is real and true and needs nurturing.

Elizabeth wrote a wonderful post a while ago that keeps going through my mind as I contemplate the gift of friendship.

Dear Friend, Please come visit.

I promise you that I will not spend days and days cleaning my house before you arrive. I will not stuff the evidence of life lived here into far recesses of closet corners you will never see. I will not pretend that the life we live here is always ever perfectly ordered. I will not seek to impress you. Instead, I will endeavor to befriend you.

I will make sure that nothing gross will surprise you in the bathroom. I'll probably plump the cushions on the couch. I'll make you something good to eat and share with you endless of pitchers of green tea lemonade. Instead of coaxing my children to scour and shine, I will share with them the fun of expecting company.

I tell you all this--I'm doing it this way--because I trust you. And I want to be your friend. I trust that you are coming to spend time with me, not to judge me or take notes or compare me to anyone else. And I promise you that when I come to your house, I'm coming for you--your company and that alone. I trust you with who I really am, imperfect though that may be. I trust that the half-finished paint job will make you smile in ready recognition that you have been there, done that, too. I'm going to throw open my doors--and my heart--and be real with you.

Because that's what friends do.

And you're my friend, in every sense of the word.

Love,

Elizabeth