Loving My Weekends

Since we now have less than 2 weeks before school starts, it's finally nice and warm - but not TOO warm.  I just walked to the library with a load of books around noon and checked them in.  I then walked home with a lighter load - the long way - and hardly noticed the heat.  Well, it's just 67.  But sunny.

The family went camping and drove by to say good-bye.  Little birds chirping "Bye, Mimi!" over and over and little hands out the windows.  I wish I had gone down to hug them.  I'm trying to keep the worrying at bay, because if I let it, it will dampen my spirits this weekend.  I finally got Emily to tell me where they were going.  No big deal to them, but I was once the same way.  They're going to Camano Island State Park, which makes me feel better.  I was afraid they were going across the Pass to Eastern Washington in those isolated forests they love, but this is just the 4 of them, and they're not roughing it quite as much.  On one of our trips up here before children, we all went to Whidby Island by ferry and had a really nice day.  It helped that there was a quilt shop there.

I can't read any more, it seems.  That big stack of books that I was so excited about 3 weeks ago just didn't hold my interest.  I finished Redemption by James Baldacci last night, and while it was good, I just didn't find myself hurrying to finish it.  Same with the Michelle Obama book.  I love it while I'm reading it, but I don't stop everything to go back to it.  So, back to the library with these:

There, There just didn't interest me any more, and Fifth Season was just crazy.  It doesn't matter if it has been the book that's won the most literary awards the last few years, I just can't spend much time reading about a world of one continent and people called Rock Eaters within the first two pages.  The Invisible Man, I just was not going to finish.

This is the book I had on hold.

 

Just reading the back cover made me grab another book just in case this was one I couldn't get into.  I got the book of short stories by Tom Hanks that I had seen on the paperback rack a few times.  Surely, that one will do until some of my other ones come in.  Looks like it's time to request another big stack.  Heaven forbid I'm without any.

I do have a new hobby though and not one that I asked for.  I was in Michael's the other day to get my exciting new little cart.  I'm spending a good bit of time in my bedroom since the girls play there, and there is just no place to put my "stuff."  I was tempted by the gold one and even liked the lavender one, but I settled for a plain old gray one.  Can't beat $25 for it.  I had looked at the original style at Ikea for awhile, but it's a good bit more expensive, and we don't have an Ikea near enough for me to venture out to one.

''

This was just as I dumped a coffee table and night stand full of stuff onto it



I'm sure this is as organized as it's likely to be.  It rolls out of the way nicely to give me a little more room while the girls pull out their toys in the gray bins.  I have grocery lists and coupons on the bottom, library books and planners and other notebooks on the middle shelf, and pens and scissors and stray sewing projects on the top one.

Right now, the library books are gone, and a stack of paper dolls I'm cutting out has taken their place.  I'll cut out those clothes all day just to listen to the stories they make up with them as they play.

Anyway, back to Michael's.  Everything I bought was on sale, and I had a 40% coupon for a regular-priced item.  Not one to waste that, I remembered how much Graysen loved her art class last year, working with clay, so I got a beginner set of polymer clay, the kind you have to bake.  I'm not sure what I thought I was doing, but I've slightly regretted it ever since.

Not that they don't love it.  They love it TOO much.  In fact, we got Elise hooked, and the four of us sit at the table and have the best time making our things.  Not many of them are recognizable, especially after baking, but we've loved it.  

Graysen's first project was a Kawaii doughnut, and she did a great job with it.  We still lack the eye pins to make a charm out of it and don't have a tiny flower cookie cutter, but she embellished it with some gold eye shadow Elise had and sprinkled on some sequins, and it was a beauty.  

Katherine was content to just squish hers around a lot and have other people make things (cats) for her.

Elise showed her talent by making a frog.

The beret looked a little boring, so she stuck a dandelion bloom in it, but unfortunately it was lost in the baking.  The blush is for adding color if needed.

I was pretty proud of my purple duck or bird or whatever it was.  I like that it has paws instead of duck or chicken feet.

It started out like this, so I did improve a little bit on it.

Until someone picked it up and squashed the beak. 

I redeemed myself with this pumpkin though.

 The next day, I brought over their big box of Play-Doh for us to practice with, but it was kind of a bust.  They had already seen the joys of REAL clay, so they've been spoiled.

The one thing keeping Graysen's interest is a YouTube channel that a young girl from Australia has showing how she does all her little Kawaii charms.  Her name is Rachel, and her YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJsVoGo-HszKDVCqsORk_A.  She's quite good, and we're all hoooked.  Now when screen time comes around, it's RACHY instead of Paw Patrol and Puffin Rock.  The only problem is that she make it look so easy (and it's NOT!) that we think we're going to run to the table and make a cute little cat with a ball of yarn, and that's not exactly what it looks like when we're done.

I did try her instructions for this little freeform star one night, and it's not too bad.  A little scary-looking but sort of starish shaped.

We're ordering some prettier clay (air dry this time) and a few little molds and cutters plus some eye pins for making charms.  Graysen's goal is to make something good enough to hang on her book bag before school starts.

Soccer Mimi

I finally went to one of Graysen's practices yesterday.  I had been invited with no pressure, but I didn't see that anyone would profit by my being there, so I stayed away.

Emily thought she was going to be late getting home from work yesterday, and Ryan's car is broken again, so I thought it would be a good day to go observe, and it was really fun.

It's such a fun atmosphere, just a huge soccer field with the trees and mountains in the background.  There's a track around the fields for people to run, walk, walk dogs, ride bikes, ride scooters, etc., and all these were happening.  It's an excellent people-watching area when the practice gets a little boring.

I went partly to watch Katherine in case she wanted to go to the park behind us or if she just got antsy, but she had her plans, and it was ride that scooter.  Pretty much constantly.  I finally stopped watching her and the bigger kids on bikes and worrying about a crash and let her enjoy herself.

Mom (who did show up on time) and daughter sporting colorful shoes.

Katherine found a new family that she spent most of her time with when she wasn't scooting.  She has really come out of her shell since the spring and is very talkative with even people she doesn't know well.  This is one of Graysen's teammate's little sister, and she was very patiently letting her try out her ride.

So back to soccer.  Graysen did get put on a team with more girls on it and seems to be having a good time.  She's a little clearer on the objective - probably more so than me - and pretty much does what the coach tells her do, although she's not as aggressive as some of the ones who have played before.  And she does tend to spend a little time staring at neighboring practices or chatting with the other girls.

Most all the parents and grandparents and siblings are there, and it's a nice social outing.  Emily and Ryan have met several people they didn't know.  Emily and I tended to talk and catch up and comment on what was going on, and Ryan was the main cheerleader for the whole team.  It was a beautiful afternoon, warm but not sunny, and I'll do it again and will certainly go to all the games I can.

Snack time after practice is the favorite and worth all the effort.  The little girl in the foreground above is pretty much the star of their team.  She knows whats she's doing and is relentless.

Goldfish and applesauce.  Yay!  This is Ava whom the girls met in dance camp a couple of weeks ago, so it was good to already know someone on the team.  She's a sweet girl, but I think she goes to the other elementary school.

Millie and Allen headed home yesterday, and I know they all had a ball.  I enjoyed my week off and let them enjoy each other.  All that time of my own, and I never wrote anything on this blog.  Maybe not much happened.

I did follow through with my carpet cleaning with Elise's help.  My dissatisfaction with the apartment carpeting is nothing new.  It was old when we moved in nearly four years ago, and I'm about to start campaigning for new when the new manager gets here.  It's started to ripple and fray, and the stains were getting worse.  Before I called in a carpet cleaner - which seems like a waste of money since the stains come right back - I borrowed Emily and Ryan's carpet cleaner.  I thought it was going to be a full-sized upright one and I could do the whole place in a weekend.

Instead it was a little thing more suited to cleaning a car's upholstery, and I wasn't sure how it was going to work.

 Elise and I ended up marking off manageable sections, spraying them with my concoction of cleners, leaving them a bit, and then coming back and using elbow grease.

This was my first section which is part of a path between the kitchen where the girls eat and Elise drinks her coffee.  I also go this way to water the plants on the balcony, so it's bound to have some spills.  The before and after was very encouraging and kept me going.

It's not easy, but we're really proud of our efforts.  Next we start down the hall.  I have only a couple of minor spots in my bedroom and sewing room and a couple in Elise's room, but overall I think we're much better off.

I put a basket on the landing for shoes, and we'll see how long that lasts.  The girls are good to leave their boots outside the door, but Elise and I are not.  Right now, our only neighbor hasn't been there in months, so I don't think anyone will mind our clutter outside.

Our mystery neighbor.  We see him every few months, and the last time was the time Emily parked "for just a sec" in his parking place while she picked up the girls.  He was knocking on the door immediately!  Now she's scared to use it even though it sits empty all the time.  When we're bored, we try to imagine what's in there and why he never comes home.

Elise has been letting the cat go sit on the stairs, and she loves it. but I'm afraid she is getting too brave.  She hears the leaf blowers this morning and won't venture out.

Before I started on the carpet, I tackled another area that's been neglected for a long time, and even though it isn't visibly improved, I know it's now clean and sparkly.

Elise and I took down all the dishes and things off the glass shelves and gave them a good cleaning.  Then I washed them all and put them back.

When I bought this dining room set, the brochure had a picure of the hutch with white dishes.  It looked so clean and fresh, but I didn't have any at the time so used some bright colors for a few years.  When we moved to Montgomery, I didn't have room for it in our breakfast area, so it became a sewing room storage place.

I've since bought some white plates, but they just didn't look as comforting as Eleanor's scalloped ones.  They have so many memories of good times and good meals with Roy and Eleanor, and I think they're just perfect.  I also wanted to use some of Mama's china because she loved it so much, and I've come to appreciate it more now.

 Mama used her china and crystal a lot, and now I just like to see it when I walk through the room.  One of her china cabinets is across the room and now holds books and vases and things.

Things!  So many things.  After having homes and dining rooms and living rooms for over 40 years, I did collect things.  I sent this picture to Emily and asked her if she had any need for an easel.  I think back in the days of having mantles, I propped a lot of things up.

At present, only using one.

This cross-stitch picture that I did once upon a time as a gift for Eleanor has made its way back to me and also makes me happy.

I pulled out my pre-fall vase of dried flowers for a cheeful spot on the table.

I really don't pay that much attention to "decorating" any more, but sometimes you just want things around that please you.

It will be a busy week, and I have a few things to catch up on.

I got a new planner.  I think I mentioned it.  It's became way too important to me, and last night I had a dream about it.

Somehow it had gotten left at the edge of the ocean and washed away.  When I found it, I was devastated, although Mike (in the dream) was reassuring me I could get another one.  As he usually did about anything.

Back in the fall of 2016 when I was feeling so alone and disconnected - and disorganized - Debby sent me a wonderful Emily Ley planner.

Nice.  SO nice.

Unfortunately too nice for me at that time in my life.  I used it a lot but not in a happy way.

Looks like a coffee stain too on the 7th.  It was just typical of the time of my life when I was trying to juggle full-time child care and having Elise back with me and keeping up with Mama's needs.

I was glad to have it but wish I could have done it justice.  

The next couple of years, I got just basic planners for the year, using them only sporadically.

But this year - for whatever reason - I started being interested in a nicer planner.  I did a lot of research and looking at pictures and videos and reviews and decided on a Plum Paper one.  I got an August beginning because I was ready to start getting my thoughts and life organized.  Now.

It's hard not to get caught up in videos of all the pretty stickers and headers and things out there, but I started feeling overwhelmed and noticing that people are decorating their planners with kits and spending countless hundreds of dollars for stickers!  

So far, I've been drawn to functional ones and have been doing some trial and error things.  I love the Early Release ones for Graysen's school because that's something that I need to be reminded of every day, and I don't like writing it on every Friday of the year.  This is ready for one of the September weeks.

The little flowers at the bottom are cute reminders to drink 8 glasses of water.  It's not as helpful as I would have thought!

The paper is wonderful to write on and makes me enjoy writing even with my terrible penmanship.

There are lots of blank pages to be used for whatever, and I decided to try to get all this down in one place.  I have these contacts on my phone and thankfully have never had to use them, but I know in a moment of panic I could find these numbers.

My ambitious August goals.  Meh.  Got some already done and have a chance to do more.  Those movies!  I watch so few movies I have no idea about them.  I just take some stranger's recommendations and then find some awful ones - like What were they thinking? ones.  With Amazon Prime and Netflix, I can just watch a little bit at a time on my computer and have enjoyed the ones I did let myself watch.

This was last week, and I did let it get a little cluttered.  I'm learning.  But I AM more organized and not forgetting things.  Not sure to do with that wasted space at the bottom.

 I like having these empty pages for lists since I don't really have any goals except to get from day to day.

By February, I ought to be organized enough to do a good job!

And with the cute post-it notes, I should be.  Unfortunately, they're so cute I'm reluctant to waste them.

So this is why I've having dreams (nightmares) about my planner getting washed away.  

In my dream while I was fishing around for mine, I did find two more planners of people I didn't know.

Looks like a beautiful day coming up.  We're meeting another sister pair at the park this afternoon, but that's all we have on the calendar for today.