Productivity

I love a good productive Saturday— perhaps even more exciting than usual because it has nothing to do with cooking or baking or doing anything for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love that stuff, but it is nice when there are no more presents to wrap (or make) and I can catch up on some house stuff that has been on the list for a long time. So yeah productivity… house stuff… day at home… and somehow I still hate plumbing. I think every single plumbing project I do takes twice or three times as long as I think it should. Today was no different. I needed to clean out the trap in the downstairs bathroom. It has been draining slowly for a while and I know it just needs the hair cleaned out. I got it taken apart and the hair cleaned out in decent time and then the marathon of putting it back together started. After an hour and a half and a new gasket and new ring later (both in my plumbing repairs bin!), it was finally back together and done. Whew. I hate plumbing.

I also managed to do a bunch of random small projects that were bugging me:

• Replace switch at the bottom of the stairs
• Put all the hall switch plates back on (I only painted 2 months ago, right?)
• Repaint spot at the bottom of the stairs where a recent move dinged up the freshly painted wall
• Move closet door so I could finish painting that one spot that you can see when the doors are open
• Take apart and de-gunk the dishwasher screen (totally disgusting)
• Clean dishwasher by running it with lemon kool-aid (not sure it really worked, but hey, I saw it on pinterest)
• Clean washing machine by soaking hot water and vinegar for an hour or two and then running it
• Hang Booth photo in the hall
• Frame and hang family picture that’s just been sitting there waiting
• Clean out the front closet
• Build shoe shelves into the front closet
• Drink doses of Emergen C (yeah, I have that faint tickle at the back of my throat… after 3 months of avoiding getting sick, this could be the moment…)

There’s a lot I didn’t get done, but I’m calling it a day and saying I feel pretty good about what I did get done (this is big for me). 

Christmas Tree Skirt

Last year after Christmas, I bought some great Christmas colored fleece on super clearance with every intention of making a new Christmas tree skirt to replace the old nasty felt one that was disintegrating. Naturally, I put the fleece on the sewing shelf and forgot about it until I pulled out that nasty old skirt again this year… and decided it was really time for a new one.

Naturally I’d seen lots of cool tree skirt ideas, but my main goals were:

1. Washable (no more nasty felt tree skirts for me)
2. Not too tacky
3. Short project duration (aka very easy)

High expectations, I know. I used my old tree skirt as a pattern, sewed a hem along the outer edge, and borrowed my friend’s cricut machine and cartridge to cut out lots of fleece flowers. This took a while but was the perfect activity for hanging out with said friend while she worked on another project. (Crafty and generous friends rock my world).

A few days later I was ready to attach the flowers so I laid it out for the dogs to lay on… wait… that’s what happened, not what I meant to do. Nonetheless, the dog laid in the middle of the project while I hand stitched the flowers to the skirt and she felt like we got some quality time in. Perfect.

And I love the finished product. Washable. Not too tacky. Short project duration. And even kind of pretty (and cheap, super super cheap). 

Pajama Eater Addiction

My friend Jodi over at SewFearless.com created this fabulous pattern for these adorable Pajama Eaters (you can buy your copy here). Pajama Eaters are designed to “eat” kids pajamas during the day (rather than having them thrown on the floor). Brilliant. Clearly designed by a mom with small children. Anyway, I thought they were brilliant and adorable and naturally wanted to make one… or twenty…
Yeah, they kind of ran away with me. First I decided that I’d try to make 11 of them for my 11 nieces and nephews for Christmas. I started early enough but was hoping I’d manage to get them all done. So I finished those 11 and accidentally made two extras (how does one make thirteen without even realizing it?) And then I decided to add my two goddaughters to that list. And a sibling asked for one. And I had a brilliant idea to use one as part of a white elephant gift exchange. Then I ran out of inspiration for my original gift for the three godsons and decided to make them PJ Eaters. and then I found this cool soft, weird leopard print fabric in the remnant bin, and…
I am totally out of control!!
Things I love about the pattern:

• The brilliance of the critter, adorable and practical
• Simple, easy to follow instructions with great photos and bright colors to keep me from getting bored.
• It was a fabulous starting point for my creativity to go wild. I ended up making the original monsters, owls, frogs, rabbits, three-legged one-eyed alien monsters, and more. So much fun!! 
• STASH BUSTER!! I bought one or two fabrics at the store and a few lengths of corduroy for really cheap at thrift stores… but mostly, these were from the stash. Awesome. (I did have to buy zippers, stuffing, and notions). 
• My friend Katie who needed a hobby was also fascinated by the concept so I taught her to sew while she surpassed me with her creative genius. She made a Hello Kitty, ninja, panda bear, owl, and… A HOBBIT. She is amazing. And was inspired to amazing creativity by this fabulous pattern.
• Okay fine, I’ll stop with the shameless promoting- seriously go get the pattern and try it!

Things I did not love:

• The legs. I’m not sure why, but I found the legs to be the hardest part. Hard to get the bottom of the foot on without puckering. Hard to connect the top just right. Legs. Not a fan. In fact, my favorite PJ Eaters to make were the owl – no legs. 
• Sewing pajama eaters out of minky fabric. The stretch made it difficult to sew the minky guys. They were incredibly soft and they did turn out, but a complete pain to work with- not to mention minky shedding mess everywhere… on everything. Basically, if you want soft and cuddly, I’d recommend flannel over minky any day… especially after making 4 PJ Eaters with various types of minky fabric.
• The pajama eater mess taking over my house for 2 months.
• Not having enough people to sew pajama eaters for.

Photo Round Up:

And then there’s this one… I totally love this one. My sister is in college and will be spending next semester in Europe studying and traveling. She asked for a PJ Eater and loved the three legged guy… and suddenly a crazy idea was born… a PJ Eater with backpack straps (made out of $1 cloth fabric belts from thrift store). She can put her wallet / phone in the mouth and then sleep on it on the train. Brilliant, right? Or maybe just ridiculous.

Hi. I’m Reenie. I’m addicted to making Pajama Eaters.
Hi Reenie.
Admission: Made a total of 21 pajama eaters… in approximately three months. While also working a full time job, having a full time life, and refinishing a lot of dining room chairs. Sometimes I amaze myself. And yes - somebody better stop me before this gets out of hand…

Done!!

I realized recently I had never shared the completed project with all of you. Sometime this past spring I was suddenly on a chair mission and started thinking about what I wanted to do with the dining room set.  The set I had before had served me well for a long time (10 years to be exact) but honestly it really was too big and bulky and the chairs too tall for my modest dining room. Besides, the table needed refinishing and the chairs needed reupholstering and I wasn’t ready to do that much work on a set I didn’t love. 
Then in October I showed you some shots of refinishing the table and buffet top.  November found me with a couple free weekends (at long last!) so I finally got around to the chairs. And I’ll be honest- they were a complete pain to redo. I cleaned, lightly sanded, primed, painted (2 coats), then did a wash over the paint with the stain to match the table, and then three coats of varnish. And finally reupholstering the seats and reattaching them to the chairs (and yes, I still need to get some scotch guard for them). Anyway, it was very time consuming and far from perfect (don’t ask me about the big scratch I managed to get in the leaf of the table as I was putting it into the handy storage spot under the table top). And yet… I am thrilled with the results and they are even better than I imagined. I love it. 
Well, here’s where we started…

New (to me) table ($50 from Habitat Restore) and mismatched chairs bought (various places $40 for 6 of them) and ready to refinish …
AND… Done at last!!

 
I love how it fits in my dining room, how it looks elegant and almost antique, and mostly, how it is finished. 

Nerdy confession: I wanted to set the table with my mom’s wedding china (blue and white) like all those “real” bloggers when they staged their house. But let’s be honest, the dog crate in the corner with plants all over it would have given me away as a hack. So there you have it, the unset \ real life actual person blogger version. Some day I may have to put the china out, just to see how it looks. 

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2012/12/transformation-thursday-no-182.html

Thankful

I know, it’s so cliché but it seems appropriate somehow. In the past year or two, I have made a conscious effort to be more thankful daily. To recognize the little things and be grateful for them. And I have to say, it is life changing. It has sunk deeper into my consciousness and now I don’t have to TRY so hard to find things to be thankful- I just notice them more.

Nonetheless, this is the time of year where we once again thank God for his many abundant blessings. So here’s my thankful list for right now (which just means the things at the top of my mind- not a comprehensive list):

- Faith. This is probably the hardest one to put into words. I am thankful for the gift of Faith. I’m thankful for a community of faith that I am blessed to be part of. For the Catholic Church who dispenses the great Deposit of Faith to us. For the Sacraments. The priests who bring us Jesus daily. Such a gift!

- Family. For amazing parents. For terrific brothers and sisters, in laws, adorable and funny nieces and nephews, near and far. For the challenge of loving one another- in good times and in bad. For the grace to love with a love so much deeper than my own limited heart. For the rolling on the floor laughing moments and the moments we cry our eyes out together and for all the moments in between. I am so thankful for my family. 

- Home. The Homestead continues to be my safe haven, my endless palate for learning home repair skills, for crafty inspiration, for a project never finished. For the people that share my home now, for the many people I’ve shared it with in the past, for the pups that keep it hairy and real. For giving me a dim glimpse of how amazing our Real Home is and making me yearn for that.

- Friends. I am probably one of the most blessed people I know and I have to say (in my humble opinion) I have the best friends in the whole world. I have no idea why God has seen fit to bless me so abundantly but He has and I certainly never want to take it for granted. For the near by friends, the far away friends, for all the friends in between. The ones I see regularly, the ones I see rarely, the ones I almost never see… for the phone calls, the facebook chats, the craft nights, book club, sounding boards, the ones who tell you that you’re not crazy, the ones who remind you that you are crazy and they love you anyway… I am so thankful for the gift of friendship.

- Munchkins. Maybe they should be right at the top of the list. I have SO many awesome munchkins in my life- and so many friends and family willing to let me be part of their amazing and funny lives. I am blessed.

- Grandparents. I’ve been spending a lot of time with my mom’s parents since Gram broke her hip and Grandpa needs more company while she’s in rehab. Grandpa struggles to remember these days, he repeats the same stories over and over again, minutes apart, but he constantly says “I was so blessed to be a dentist. I was so blessed to survive World War 2 and come home. I was so blessed to live in that house. God really blessed me with a beautiful family…” It goes on and on. He doesn’t remember a lot of the details anymore, but it continues to inspire me that he has hung on to the fact that God has blessed him so consistently throughout his life. What a witness! I am also incredibly grateful to have my Grandpa Bob still with us, getting softer and sweeter all the time. My life has been so enriched being surrounded by amazing grandparents. I will miss them when they are gone (and already miss Grandma and Oma) but for today, I am incredibly grateful to have them in my life.

There are so many more things I could say, but it is bedtime and I will leave it at that for right now. God is so good to me. I am so very thankful. 

Ten Minutes on Tuesday

I’m not sure choosing the last waking 10 minutes is really going to get you good reading material, but here goes. It is Tuesday. Mid November. The election has come and gone. I wasn’t thrilled with the big name outcome – and yet, I can’t help but get frustrated at all the doomsday predictions. God is still God, He is still on the throne. We have work to do as His Church, but presidents come and go, and God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I’m sticking with that. And there ends my political thoughts for the time being.

Change is a funny thing. It is inevitable. The only thing you can depend on is that life will continue to change. And change stretches and challenges me. Maggie is reacting to the change in our house (her favorite roomie getting married and moving out) by stealing food and peeing in the house. Awesome. We’ve been having a lot of serious discussions about whether or not she’d like to spend the rest of her life in a cage. And I’ve gotten the mousetraps back out. Change. And somehow Maggie’s absolute resistance to change reminds me to learn to deal more gracefully with change in my own life. My impulses aren’t much different- I hate change, and though I still pee in the appropriate locations, I loathe it, fear it, and generally take a long time adjusting to it. Sometimes having your dog mirror your own behavior is a good reminder to shape up… (think metaphor here).

The weather has changed. Sunday it was nearly 70 degrees and BEAUTIFUL and today there was ice on my morning walk. Brrr. I had to get out the winter coat at last and I am slowly resigning myself to the fact that spring is over, summer is over, and fall is very nearly over.

I have been sewing up a storm lately!! After that quilt top in a month (and no, I have gotten no further), I had to do something… so I just finished 13 Pajama Eaters (pattern here) which are for my nieces and nephews for Christmas. They were a fun project for me, a good creative outlet, and here I am in mid November with a bunch of my shopping done! Not to mention that it was mostly a stash busting project—I had to buy some stuff to make them, but mostly I got the fabric out of my stash anyway. And I seriously don’t know how I’ve managed to make 13 of them in just 5 weeks! Especially with everything else going on.

Part of the everything else is that I’ve been in Monroe once or twice a week visiting my grandma in rehab and spending time with Grandpa. I love those people. And it’s been fun seeing aunts, uncles, cousins, and other characters during my visits. Family is such a gift!

I am also teaching 2^nd grade religious ed at my parish. I have wanted to teach for a few years, but with the job as it was, it just wasn’t possible. I’m enjoying my class, preparation for first reconciliation and first Eucharist—but they are definitely a squirrely bunch and keep me on my toes.

And with that, I’m off to bed. Happy Tuesday!

Busy busy busy

It’s been rather quiet on here because life is simply busy. October brought a visit from my sister and her family, which was wonderful. The highlight of the visit- other than obviously getting to see all of them- was the sleepover at Aunt Reenie’s with Brendan’s 3 kids and Kathleen’s 3 older kids. We had a blast. There’s nothing better than your own dining room full of your favorite people laughing and having fun and just being kids. 

It did make me miss my long distance kiddos though – it’s hard having nieces and nephews scattered all over the country!! I miss Gui and Pascal like crazy and don’t even know Aetheline or Monty yet! Someday, when I have endless time off and endless resources…

The weekend after the Veens left was the wedding… Destination wedding in Toledo, OH for my roommate Leslie. What a blast!! Weddings are always more fun when there’s a lot of sass to go around- and this one had plenty of it.  Not to mention a dress that actually contained me (after the initial horror of how the dress fit and two evening sewing sessions with the very talented Karen – THANK YOU).  Anyway, there was a lot of preparation leading up to the wedding, a lot of dress alterations, making straps for all 7 bridesmaids, and living with the bride… and then the weekend arrived and it was wonderful and sassy and fun. So great to witness two good friends promising their lives to each other. 

And somewhere in the midst of that, my grandma fell and broke her hip… so she had surgery and is now in rehab. The family is trying to figure out the next steps, and trying to keep Grandpa company since his dementia is more pronounced lately and he is lost without Grandma around. So I’ve been trying to get there at least one evening a week for a visit and spending the night with him. I’ve had a lot of thoughts and reflections on this process that I won’t bore you with, but it continues to weigh on my heart what a gift it is to walk this road of suffering with one another. My grandparents have been so incredibly present to me for my whole life- and here, in their hour of need, I am blessed to be able to be present for them. Grandpa may be repeating the same stories over and over and over again, but at the end of each round one night, he reached over and held my hand and said, with a tear in his eye, “I’m so glad you’re here with me. I really don’t like living alone.” And he meant it every single time. So it does put a bit of a wrench in the daily life schedule right now, and yet, it is good to be here, to be present, to learn how to love them better as we help them in this new phase of life. Life is such a precious gift, for all of our days.

And other than that, I’ve been doing the fall yard clean up, taking care of a big dog who is angry about many things (me being gone too much, her favorite roomie getting married and moving out, etc), sewing a lot of Pajama Eaters for the munchkins for Christmas, catching up with friends, and occasionally trying to sleep…

And so ends October.

Cast of Characters

I read a book recently that had a Cast of Characters at the beginning of it. You know those pages in the front where they outline who you are going to meet so that when you forget the names later in the book, you can always look them up. Rather helpful if you ask me.

This got me thinking about the Cast of Characters in my own life... I was thinking about how on earth I would figure out how to write one for myself. Who do you include? Just my immediate family alone is kind of an overwhelming cast of characters- both in sheer numbers and describing the role each one plays in my story. And then if you went into extended family (gasp!), friends, extended friends, the rest of my community... What a cast it would be!  

I started one, just for fun... and quickly got stumped. It is overwhelming enough just to list family, spouses, kids and then I started on friends, which is where it got really crazy. I have so many friends, near and far. Daily contact, monthly contact, yearly contact. Just because Friend X lives out of state and we're terribly bad at phone calls doesn't mean she isn't part of my life, my story. She may have played a larger role in some part of my history, but she's certainly part of the story. I get excited for a new baby (or 5). I visit when possible. She and her family take up heart space -- they are part of who I am, even from a distance.  But how on earth would you ever list and describe all of those people? And their spot in your story?  

It keeps circling around in my mind lately... and it's kind of an interesting place to let your mind wander. And it makes me so grateful for the Cast of Characters in my story, even if it is too complicated to actually write it all up.  

What about you? What does your Cast of Characters look like?  

Sadness

It has been a heavy week. Last week, our community buried a 12 year old girl who lost her battle to brain cancer. I didn’t know her personally, but had been praying for her for a few years and following her story. And I know her grandfather, who is a deacon at our parish. She was one of us. Community. And she died so young. The world only sees the tragedy, the heartbreak… and I certainly see and experienced that, even from a distance. And yet, we also see the victory in her death. She fought the good fight and was going Home. She reached the Beloved face to face!!! What more could any of us hope for? 

The same day, they found a young man in our community dead. I still don’t have all the details, but apparently a freak accident. His older sister was my best friend all through middle and high school. His big brother is a good friend and married one of my longest childhood friends. I worked in his dad’s store in high school. We went to the same daily Mass for years. We rubbed elbows serving at Mass on occasion. He was a vibrant, joyful, and faithful witness of God’s great love to all those around him. And at age 23, he is gone. It is heavy. I trust that He is going or has gone Home. Victory. And yet there are so many unanswered questions. So much sadness, not just at the gap in my life, but the gap for those that loved him and were so close to him. That shared so much more of their lives with him.

I was talking to a good friend who lives out of state and she was missing this community while getting ready for her new baby. Our community makes such a big deal about new babies and their grand entrance, and she’s missing some of that where she’s at.

Community is an amazing thing. We really do bear one another’s burdens, weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice. I am so humbled and so blessed by the gift of it. And I am praying for this community as we bury a couple beautiful young people and learn to love each other more in the process. Come Lord Jesus. 

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 – 11.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Lord, help us remember that you have indeed made everything beautiful in your time and that you have a plan and work all things for the good of those who love you.

The dining room upgrade…

Awhile back, I mentioned my quest for a new (used) table and chairs for the dining room. I managed to exceed my expectations finding some awesome chairs in several locations and then got stalled on the table. It seemed like everything on craigslist was way to expensive for what they were offering.
One day I headed to the local Habitat for Humanity Restore just to see… wasn’t even sure they had tables, but I was going to check. And there it was…. a beautiful oak double pedestal table with the leaves that stored inside (I love that!). The table top had some scratches and paint streaks on it, but the price was right ($50), the size was right, it was coming home with me!

Donal happened to buy a stove at the Restore the very next day, so we pooled resources and helped each other get our large purchases home. (Love that guy!)
For the next few weeks, I had two dining room tables and a lot of chairs in the dining room, making it seem even smaller. And then some woman from the magical land of craigslist came, gave me cash, and drove away with the old table and chairs. Fabulous. And, as it turns out, I made enough cash on the old set to buy all the new stuff and all the supplies to refinish them. Perfect!
On to the refinishing project…
My buffet –which I LOVE—came from my dad’s grandma, so it’s really old. And there was an unfortunate incident a few years ago with a colander of tomatoes… that leaked… and made a stain… and it caused me great anguish for a long time. And it became clear the only way to get rid of it would be to refinish the top of it. So I matched the stain to buffet (since the rest of it doesn’t need to be refinished).
Saturday I stripped the finish off the top of the buffet and the table top. 

Tonight I pulled out my trusty orbital sander and started at the sanding. The edges of the table took as long as the entire table top! Why did I choose a table with a fancy edge?? It felt like a lot of sanding, but I was eventually done (and the dining room was a dusty mess).
Next I cleaned all the dust off the table top and buffet. And then I applied the wood conditioner and then stained them both.
 

The table is a different wood than the buffet and has a lot less natural red in it, so the color doesn’t match exactly, but I think it looks great.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get a coat of polyurethane on them.