All My Loose Ends

It's been a while...

since I've updated. At least for me.

We had a busy weekend in IL tying up more loose ends (no pun intended) for our move in January.

Let's break things down a bit.

Scrapbooking
I'm totally about my paper these days. I can't seem to get interested in any of my other tasks. I ebb and flow with my crafts. I haven't knitted in a while, but I know that time will come back again. I'm just really feeling inspired.

I would like to point you to Becky Fleck's fantastic sketches. I've been getting so much down with the help of these. They're more my speed than Becky Higgins work. I've gotten so much done (and I feel a little better about my progress when I'm using sketches as opposed to scraplift after scraplift after scraplift).

Knitting
I finally cast on for the second Falling Leaves sock. I got nearly through the toe. I love the sock I made so far and can't wait to get through the other one.

I wanted to work on knitting up a harry potter scarf to wear to the movie next week, but I couldn't find any yarn (not even acrylic!) that would work at Michaels. I haven't given up the idea of it YET, but it's getting there as the scarf is, like, eight feet long or something.

Sewing
As soon as I repair Emily's nightie and doll stroller, I'm packing it away for a month or so. I have some lovely red flannel that I may opt to use to make a Christmas nightie for Emily. We'll see.

Christmas

It's less than two months away, but I'm not even close.

Went to the doc. today about my panic attacks. He wasn't comfy. prescribing anything because of the TTC thing. That's okay. He suggested vigorous exercise, so I'm going to give that a try. Hopefully things have settled down enough here that it won't be much of an issue.

Insert witty title here...

I'm tired of making things up.

Emily wore her costume to school today. Of course, my ego was stroked when I showe dup and saw lots of kiddies (save one) in their store bought costumes. Even with my gripes about the fabric, Emily's costume was much better made that the others there...

Now, before you accuse me of being elitist, with a little girl who loves to play dressup I have two goals-longevity and cost. I want something economical so that Emily can have more dress up options and I want things that will last. A few years ago we bought a dress up trunk full of costumes from the Disney Store. Guess what?

They didn't last. The skirts were made out of cheapish tulle and the tops thin polyester. That trunk retailed for $100 for the three outfits.

They just didn't last. Emily's alice costume from last year cost me around 20. She can still wear it and it looks perfect. This costume cost a little more and will last nearly as long if not longer. So, I'm not being a snob, I swear. THe uber deluxe disney princess costumes (which are the only ones that look nice) retail for nearly $100 dollars, so I think I got a bargain.

I've been scrapbooking. See?

I swear that damn thing is straight

I'm happy to announce my 2005 family album is nearly caught up through Feb. Sadly, my 2004 album isn't finished yet.

Anyone else want to join me in scaling down how many gifts they buy their kids this year? I ask because I'm thinking of doing. Actually going forward with three gifts (what the magi brought baby jesus) under the tree. She'll get things in her stocking and a gift from Eric and I.

I'm so chicken shit about it though. I don't break the bank on the kid. I spend what I consider to be a reasonable amount, about $150 to $175 all said and done and I probably would stills pend that much, just buying bigger gifts instead of the usual little crap I buy to make sure the tree is stuffed. Last year Emily probably got one gift from us that she still plays with regularly--wait--two. Her bitty baby and the car seat we bought her. Otherwise, the dolls and little ponys and crap I bought so she'd have a lot to open really isn't played with much.

When I was a kid, though, there was a competion. How much did you get?

On the Internt, I've noticed a disturbing trend. People spending THOUSANDS of dollars on their children EVERY Christmas. I'm not talking about "Well, little Johnny is dying for a telescope and it costs a lot, but it's a once ina life time thing". I'm talking every year.

Every. Year.

And I'm thinking, it's the right thing to do to scale down. To buy Emily a few gifts that she loves instead of a bunch of crap so she can have a long list, but on the other hand, I don't want her to go to school and tick of her three things and feel like she got less.

So, if everyone just scales down, I'd feel a lot better. ;o)

So I finally

finished that God forsaken halloween costume last night. By the end, I was nearly in tears. I think I made a bad fabric choice with the dark pink and it made it damn near impossible to hem. Yes, the hem is ugly too.

And I Don't Care!

It's done and Emily loves it. I need to get a tiara for tomorrow, but other than that we're in good Halloween shape.

And it's time to start thinking about Christmas, don't you think?

Picked up some provo craft lunch boxes from Michael's yesterday. Of course, I didn't get the cute top open ones, but I have come up with some ideas for mine--which is good as I bought five or six. :embarassed:

The first one is in progress as a recipe holder. I'm thinking this one is for me, but I'll transcribe our favorite recipes into it and then coat it wih mod Podge and then seal it to make it kitchen mess safe. We'll see how that turns out. I stitched together the cards last night.

I do have to clean off my scrap desk again. I'm not making much progress on the house I think that we may do that this weekend. I have just about finished magic erasering the kitchen walls, which is on my list for sure. The worst of the wall meses are out there, so the rest of the wall messes should be pretty easy.