Oooh sparkly!

I have been doing a lot of things, but none of the crafty things I want to do since I slipped down the stairs. It's making me a little bit cranky, and I'm trying to keep everything in perspective, but I'm having a hard time. I still have a bunch of things I need to catch up on, like laundry and editing before I feel like I have time to spend in my sewing room, plus we are going to Vancouver for the weekend for Halloween.
But here are things that have made me happy recently. I'm trying to keep these in mind to make it through the day without yelling at my child all the time.

Amazing robot boy, on the right hand side. Moira's first art project that she self identified as anything other then a ghost or Mimi. Well worth the hassle of letting her paint with all her paints on the back of her doll house.

Moira has started trying the potty out again, mostly when I read to her. We read Angelina Ballerina for the first time this way, and that afternoon she performed her usual bouncing gymnastics on the ottoman, only this time she was "Practicing her dancing to be a ballerina." She didn't believe me that this is not quite what Angelina was doing.

Today a friend watched Moira for a couple of hours, and I got a manicure. I forgot how much I like paraffin dips. And now my nails are sparkly. During naptime, I got to have my favorite new tea. After nap we played with one of Moira's friends while her Mom napped and her Dad caught up on chores. I even got to hold the baby who appears to love to kiss, which was surprising from a 3 month old. It's always easier for me to be the best parent I can be with other people's children. I really want to work on being closer to that parent when it's just me and Moira.
Here's to more time and less exhaustion next week.

{This Moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

So it goes, and goes, and goes

On Saturday, I slipped on the stairs and bruised my tailbone. Funnily, the last time I did this, I was holding a toddler and didn't end up with more then a little bruise on my leg. This time I'm pretty laid out, and have lots of fun medication to help me with the pain. I'm glad it happened on a Saturday, so that Walker was here for the next day and I could take it easy.
On Sunday, our water heater broke. And it turns out that the water heater we had is against code for being in the bathroom we built around it. So we still have no hot water, and now we have to wait for an electrician to put in a new panel in there so we can get an electric heater rather then a gas one. We are hopeful that we can get this done tomorrow, but it seems unlikely.


I did manage to do some sewing over the weekend and early last week. After last Halloween I saw this wreath and knew we needed it for our house. Moira was happy to help me glue the big eyes on. She got a little scared for a bit when I started sewing it together, but I told her that it was a friendly monster who would tell other monsters to leave our house alone. She seems pretty happy with our decorations so far. Definitely better then the nothing from last year.

Pearl helped me take pictures of the things I've sewn for me lately. I had a shirt that I loved that was made of really thin material that also had a faint stain on it. I managed to save the embroidered pockets from it when I cut it apart to use as a pattern to make this. I'm happy with the plaid fabric as it's nice and light. I also really like the green polka dot fabric I used for the binding around the neck.

I believe I've mentioned before that all my shirts get little holes near the hem from rubbing against the buttons on my jeans when I'm carrying Moira. I was hoping it would be getting better now that I carry her less, but it seems to be getting worse as she gets heavier. I had the shirt that is the top part of this dress for a week before it got holey. The skirt part was from a dress that wasn't flattering on top that has been in my sewing room for most of a year waiting for me to do something with it. I think they work perfectly together, and I'm really glad that I was able to reuse the blue shirred waist from the original dress. I've worn this a lot since I fixed it.

The shirt for this dress became holey almost as quickly as the green one above. I liked the neckline a lot, so I wanted to keep it pretty simple. I'm not as pleased with this one. Originally I just sewed a slightly a line skirt from the lighter teal fabric on, but it was a little too baggy and shapeless. I added some rows of shirring and now it's a little too tight. I've worn it a few times any way, with a jacket on top and I think I like it best that way.

Hopefully we will have hot water, and I will be able to sit again soon. I miss my sewing room, and I have a couple of other holey shirts waiting for me to turn them into slightly longer non holey shirts. I also want to make the family matching jammies for the fall.

It's like a labrynth. But there's no Minotaur at the end.

Today I had a set of fillings replaced. I have four, and all of them were put in before I turned 20, so it's pretty impressive they lasted this long.
When I made the appointment, I hadn't really thought about what the appointment would entail, ie; Novocaine. I hate needles, and the one going into my gums always makes me burst into tears. Plus, the hard part for me about dental work is the sound of the drill, and the pressure. Neither of those things is solved with pain medication. After it starts wearing off, I always have a major anxiety attack. A few years ago, I had my gums irrigated (one side at a time) and my reaction after the first time was so bad, I begged the dentist to do it without the shot. Probably for the best that he refused, but I still wish he hadn't.
I suddenly thought about it last night, and Walker offered to stay home for the whole morning, rather then just the length of the appointment, but I told him we'd figure something out if I was useless. And I decided to talk to the dentist today.
When I explained my concerns, he and the hygienist agreed to try it without any pain meds, with the promise that we could stop if it was too bad and reconsider. One of the fillings they were replacing was put in without anesthesia when I was 12, because I had to go to school afterwards. I think I even had an oral report to give. They have TV's for the patients to watch while procedures were happening, so I had headphones and a distraction. But here's the thing, it really wasn't that bad. The worst part was getting everything clamped and set up for the thing, and while there was the occasional ouch while they were grinding things out, it wasn't anything I couldn't breathe through. I used some of the techniques I learned in my birth class. Mostly, I reminded myself that the uncomfortable feeling was temporary and soon it would be over. And indeed, it was.
Both of them were impressed, and didn't seem to believe me that it didn't hurt that bad. It really didn't. It was certainly less painful then getting my tattoo. It was much less painful then labor. I used to have a very low threshold for pain, and I don't know if it's just that I have something more intense to compare it to, or the fact that my long time back/neck pain is finally getting resolved and I therefore have more spoons, but I guess it's not true anymore.
The hygienist promised to put on my chart that I prefer no anesthesia. She said that anyone new would likely try and talk me out of that, but it at least gives me a better starting point. I'm glad I made that decision, because now I get to have a good day with Moira. We did some gardening after lunch, and after nap, we are going to scoop out our pumpkins and bake the seeds. I most glad that they were willing to listen to and accept my feelings as valid. It makes me a little more likely to continue to keep my appointments.

They grow up so fast

This weekend we celebrated Walker's 40th birthday. He bought some 40 year old port for us to enjoy after dinner at his party. A number of his friends came from far away, and very sweetly since Walker doesn't like beer, everyone who brought alcohol brought wine, or cider, or kriek. We couldn't drink it all, especially with all the port. They even drank the pale ale leftover from our 4th of July party.
Moira had a great time, only having a brief burst of shyness around cake cutting time. When it was bedtime, and I told her it was time for stories, she sighted happily and said "Bed time!" and pointed at all the guests in in the kitchen and said "Don't go home!"
Up until now I haven't had any trouble letting go of her past in exchange for her future. I've approached every milestone with arms wide open. Or so I thought.

Her hair. Her lovely (stringy, in her eyes, tangled) baby hair. She's constantly holding it out of her eyes, and I'm constantly forgetting to brush it. And it looks like a rats nest. She had a haircut, a year ago, when her baby mullet got so long and I couldn't handle it anymore.
Since then I haven't gotten it cut. I wanted it to grow long, I didn't want her to have bangs we might later have to grow out. But then a conversation in our toddler group made me suddenly realize that the actual problem was that I didn't want her to lose that last bit of babyness. You know, have an actual hairstyle.

But here's the thing. She has the same hair I have, and the same face shape. I've played around a lot with my hair, and I'm pretty sure that I know what hairstyle will work best given my (and her) unwillingness to actually do anything other then brush it. When she actually starts having opinions about her hair, I will help her do whatever crazy thing she wants with it.
But I should just admit to myself that she's not a baby. She is wearing 3T clothes, and size 8 shoes. She is old enough to have an actual haircut. Which makes it even sweeter when she hurts herself and runs straight past me to get cuddles from Daddy. That when she wakes up in the morning and before she wants breakfast, she wants to "Snuggle Mommy!" That when we were at my aunt's cabin and sharing a bed she woke up on the second night with a sigh, saying "I sleep all night in Mommy's arms." Because she is still our baby.
But in 37 years, she'll have to buy her own port.

Je ne suis pas canadien-français

I got a lot done today, although it doesn't feel like I have much to show for it. Moira and I went shopping with friends, I put the laundry away, I tidied (including some in my sewing room), I made dinner (and posted about it here!), I finally wrote a draft post somewhere I haven't actually started posting yet.
And my inlaws are in town now for Walker's birthday party this weekend. Tomorrow will be filled with more cleaning and cooking a psuedo Canadian Thanksgiving meal (Turkey, Poutine, Butter Tarts...). Admittedly, we only have to cook two of those things, and make a salad and a mocktail. It's been so long since I had Poutine, I'm looking forward to that the most.

Moira and I spent the beginning of the week at my Aunt's cabin near Ocean Shores. It was a good combo of in the middle of nowhere, but still with electricity, and hot water. Moira even got to watch a movie, and Mika and I got to do a puzzle.

Moira was pretty happy to be back at home, lack of movies not withstanding. She immediately started exploring her art supplies in new ways. Here, you can see her coloring on her crayons with her oil pastels. She also drew all over the boxes we keep her art supplies.

{This Moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Neighbor of the beast

My last post was post number 666. Awesome.
It's not Tuesday, so this post isn't truly random, but it is kind of more random because it's not on random day.

Willow took Moira to the park on Friday so I could be alone for a bit, and when I went to pick them up, we went for a walk in the woods. The last time we walked in these woods we saw a LOT of slugs. This time we only saw three or four, and Moira was sad about that. So instead of actually seeing slugs, she would sit for awhile an announce "I sit here and think about slugs." Then she would sigh.

Walker and I got to go on a date yesterday and the restaurant had my favorite rum drink, actually made with the classic Bermuda ingredients. I had two.
Tonight Willow's parents come to pick her up, and I will miss her. She will probably miss Civ 5. We are taking them and my parents out for Ethiopian food. There are a lot more Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle then last time I looked (5 years ago?). Hopefully this one compares favorably to the Queen of Sheba.

{This Moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.