Book Characters

Here are my book characters heading off to school this morning. Mattie's class was dressing up on a variation of the book "A Bad Case of Stripes." She has a bad case of neck-ties. Vin and his buddy William, of course, know of no better "book" character Indiana Jones (Bless the teachers for being flexible about which came first...the movie or the book!)

The Final Cut

So here's what we came up with as the final cut for arranging the furniture. I am flat out thrilled with the result. I still have some wires to hide and my white cupboard to wedge into place, but this is the gist of it. I'm ready for company!

Like a Rich Man through the Eye of a Needle...

So also is squeezing a piano through my bedroom door.

It took me several days to figure out how to arrange the furniture with the new couch and tv-stand. It felt like I couldn't think or get anything done until I did. So after several attempts, I finally decided that the piano needed to go down the hall, around the corner and into our bedroom. Easier said than done:

I had to take the door off the laundry closet, unhook the dryer and push it into my room. Then I took the door off my room. And then the pushing started. And the measuring, straightening, and reapeatedly climbing over the top of the piano to pull for awhile before going back to pushing.

When I finally got it to the door, I realized that while the piano technically "fit" through the door, it tilts backward slightly. After much standing around looking at it, I propped it forward with a screwdriver, which got so stuck, I had to hit it with a hammer, which rammed into the hinges which caused sparks to fly!

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, when I got it through the door and to the last part, there was nothing to hold on to to push. So picture me running at it like I was trying to break a door down...

I decided to take pictures just in case I died, so somebody could collect my Darwin Award.

And I'm so sore today, the only thing that could coax me off the couch is another pound of candy corn. That's right..I said another.

Weird Weather

We had a weird storm roll through this morning which made the sky a strange shade of green while it rained in the back yard but not the front yard. Strange, I tell ya.

Five adjectives

I am cluster-blogging today, apparently. Oh well, consistency isn't really my strong suit.

I saw this over on the Pioneer Woman's blog and I thought it would be a fun activity for my bloggy friends.

It's a little game where you list five adjectives to describe who you are. Now, once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, I was an English teacher. So I know the difference between an adjective and a noun. And don't split hairs with me about descriptive nouns because I'm not giving partial credit. You use a noun to describer yourself and you FAIL! Got it? (yeah, because I know you are really worried about a loser-washed-up-English teacher "failing" you on your blog post.) All I'm saying is that it is a little more fun when you actually stick to adjectives instead of nouns.
In the event that you have made it this far in life without knowing what an adjective is, you can use this test. It is a word that would fit in these blanks:
"The _________thing was very _________."

Now that you have had your grammar lesson for the day (tomorrow we'll discuss subordinate clauses and the proper use of a semi-colon) let's play, shall we?

Here are my five adjectives:

God-sheltered
Creative
caffeinated
feminine
amused

What are yours?

Shhhhh.

I am desperately trying to find the way back into my soul, which I seem to have lost in the last couple of months of frenetic activity. It seems like you go through these seasons in life when all your worship and prayer and commitment and focus is outward activity. You don't stop and think, you just go, do and accomplish. That's certainly how things have been for me for the last three solid months. I've never had time fly by me so quickly.

But now, with the first hard frost, I smell a more internal season coming, and I am grateful. Football is over, the building is mostly done, the garden is frozen, the house has been de-cluttered and re-packed, and the art shows are over. I'm desperately hoping for a soft, quiet place to sit still and listen for God (oh wait...I think I have that!) My soul is cluttered. I am out of balance, out of sorts. I am tired. I am empty. I am hungry and weak.

This is where I sit down quietly. Care to join me?

Today's Catch of the Day

Christians who need Jesus
by John Fischer

We all need Jesus, but the assumption quite often in certain circles is that the people who need Him are those who aren't Christians. When we say so and so needs Jesus we usually mean that so and so is not a Christian. This is unfortunate because, as I said, we all need Jesus. Somehow I think we have gotten the idea that those who have Jesus don't need Him anymore. That simply is not true.

In fact this last weekend, speaking in the Bible belt, where just about everyone would say he or she is a Christian, I said, "There are Christians in this town who desperately need Jesus." And by that I meant that there were Christians without Jesus. Is that possible? Of course it is. I was a Christian without Jesus for some time.

A Christian without Jesus is a person who believes in Christian morals, who grew up in a Christian home, who goes to church and serves on committees or sings in the choir, who believes certain doctrines that are required by his particular brand of Christianity, who desires a Christian environment so her children will be safe, who listens to Christian music and Christian teaching, or who passionately votes "Christian" as identified by the prevailing Christian spokespeople. All these things can be possible without Jesus.

Knowing you need Jesus is a whole other thing. You know you need Jesus because you have seen yourself and you are appalled at the awfulness of your sin. You know you need Jesus because you can't take another step without hurting someone. You know you need Jesus because you very clearly realize that in yourself, that is in your flesh, dwells no good thing. You know you need Jesus because you are such a good liar that you can fool yourself half the time and not even know it.

A Christian who is inclined to think that other people need Jesus is one who may need Him the most.

Everybody needs Jesus. Not everybody knows it. Some Christians know they need Jesus. Some Christians don't. So bottom line is: knowing you need Jesus is a lot more important than being a good Christian.

A Giant Leathery Hug

Ok, like a year ago, I won the Pioneer Woman's photography contest and got a big ol' gift card to J.C. Penney. And I toyed with using it for this couch...remember?

But of course, we used that for Christmas and the couch once again, became just a dream.

But as we were cleaning out the house this past week, I turned this mental corner in my mind. I just thought, you know, it might be time to stop acting kind of pathetic and buying cheap crap now. We can save up for something better. Everything was selling so well at the garage sale, I called and asked Robb if I could get rid of our couch. I figured we could live without one for a while and it would be good motivation to save for a new one.

Of course, everyone thinks my relationship with couches is so funny...well it IS a little odd. But your couch is like your clothes and your car and when it doesn't fit your personality, it's just kind of annoying. Seriously, in the grand scheme of life, I know it is just a thing, but it is a thing you sit on a lot and invite other people to sit on, and spend time with your family on, etc. etc.

So one of my friends casually mentions, "Hey, have you tried the Lucky Horseshoe?" Nope, never heard of it. It's a scratch and dent furniture store out on 412. So on Monday, with that much information, I meandered out that direction, after stopping and looking at my other gyp-joints and junque-piles...which were well stocked with UGLY couches.

In my mind I knew a couple of things for sure: Robb would need to love anything I picked out. Not that he's so difficult, but I have made him live with a lot of things he hates over the years, and I just really wanted him to be happy with what I picked out. Secondly, I would not pay retail, not even at an outlet store. I know the markup on furniture and I just flat out refuse to pay it. With where we are in life and who we are trying to honor with our resources, I just couldn't justify paying full price or even close to full price for anything.

The Lucky Horseshoe is a dusty, crowded, pile of furniture shoe-horned into a small store front, with about 50 different pieces of furniture out front that couldn't possibly fit inside the store....I have no idea what they do when it rains. They've been there for about 6 weeks and used to be in a location two towns north of us.

I squeezed in the front door and laid eyes on the prize. Not sure what to expect, I checked the price tag. It was so reasonable, I fulled expected the entire back of the couch must be ripped off. I inquired. A scratch on the back of the arm. Some dings in the wooden skirt. The obligatory furniture fabric underneath torn loose. That's all.
Robb came and looked at it, and it was simply, a no-brainer. At less than one third the original price, it was brand new, but not so perfect that we needed to scream at our kids continuously for even looking at it. As Hannah so eloquently put it, I didn't need to pay an extra six hundred dollars to put my own dings in it! And the best part? I already had that exact amount saved up.

So here it is: it is just like the one I dreamed of a year ago, only nicer! I'm not a health-wealth gospel person AT ALL. But I feel really blessed....it was nothing for God. It was the littlest thing in the world for the Ruler of the Universe to drop a couch into my life. It was a piece of cake for Him. But it's a really big deal to me. He actually cares about me. He actually cares if I have a couch that I actually like. I know...I know it's just a thing. I know there are other needs out there....way more important ones. I don't know why He chose to bless us, other than just because He's God and He is nice like that and wanted to encourage us a little bit with a nice thing. But I said it in the store and I'm saying it now....This was God setting this all up for us. I'm not trying to be cheesy. I don't think I deserve it. I'm just really grateful.

Now, if I could just figure out how to arrange the room....

Walk to School

I try, on most days, to walk the kids to school. It saves that little bit of gas, and on the mornings when the sun is shining, it is actually a little safer than driving with the extreme sun-glare we get. (You cannot see a thing through your windshield, and I have been known to stick my head out the window to avoid running over someone.) This morning, I checked the weather, and I knew it was cold, so I made the kids wear hat and gloves with their puffy vests. They thought I was crazy, but as our walk went on, they thanked me.

Not only is it good exercise, I really love the time with the kids and the outdoors. On the way back, Charleigh and I have funny chats and talk about our plans for the day. It is a great time to think, breathe and take a fresh look at everything around us. I took these pictures on a warmer morning not long ago so you could "walk" with us.

na na na nah

na na na nah
hey hey hey
Gooodbye.

This was the epic garage sale where I actually. Sold. Everything.

Just a Heads Up

I spent most of yesterday prepping the show items to go into my Etsy store (which is currently set to display my homage to Betty Draper). For those of you who were interested, the black cabinet and faces mirror are available!

Are you Watching This Show?

I don't usually recommnend TV shows, but I am gaga over AMC's Mad Men. I first heard about it from some older women who told me it is spot on historically. They told me that every young woman should be watching to learn just how things were a few short decades ago. Visually, it is confectionery for me, as I scramble to spot items I have in the past or will in the future, use in my ebay or etsy selling. And it doesn't hurt that it is full of interesting characters and plot lines. This Sunday is their second season finale, but I'm looking forward to getting caught up on Season one.

And if you don't believe me, listen to Regis:

Man Down

uh oh. Hubby went to bed around 8 with a bad headache that he had been fighting off all day. He woke up with Mattie's stomach ache. He has big plans of getting up in an hour and trying to go to work, but I'm willing to place some friendly wagers that he ain't goin' nowhere.

I have a little twinge in my stomach too, but I think it's because I ate a Weight Watchers bagel for breakfast.....BLECH!

It's SOOOOOO Over

Well, my long awaited "day of sloth" when I promised myself to stay in my pajamas and do absolutely nothing didn't exactly turn out as planned yesterday. I had Mattie home, still miserable with a stomach flu. Around noon, she finally perked up and managed to drink some broth, her first food in about 30 hours. I did, as you can plainly see, blog my brains out, because, it sure seems like it never happened if I don't write about it!

The other thing I did yesterday was wander around my house thinking, "This doesn't look anything like the last two big things I worked on" Namely, the church building and the show. My house has become the sad little stepchild, and I am her wicked stepmother who does horrible things like use black grout in the living room. My house needs some love.

I realized that I have sort of done with my house what I often do with my wardrobe...bring in cheap things to perk it up with no real plan for an overall style. It might be nice to put some thought into how to add another quality piece or two and get rid of all the greasy t-shirts and torn jeans, metaphorically speaking. I know I love my dining room table and my coffee table. I know I love my piano, bulky as it may be. I know I love the comfort of the big ol' masculine chair my brother gave me. I know I love my bedroom furniture. My couch....I do not love my couch. I've just been going through the motions with my couch, hoping the spark would come back, remember when we first got together....But the love is gone, folks. I'm so over my couch. I want it out of my life and the sooner, the better. The kids will get over it...they're kids after all...so resilient. It's going to be hard on Robb. But he'll be okay...someday.

SOLD

Here are a couple of goodies that sold at the fair this weekend. Since they were new, you didn't get a chance to see them and I thought you might like to....especially my friends who gave me the great hand-painted tiles in the brightly colored piece which could be used as a back-splash, table top, or simple wall-hanging.

War Eagle Craft Fair

I had just a half hour to visit the last moments of the craft fair at War Eagle. This is the largest fair in the state, and brings people from Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, and more. As you can see, the picturesque setting alone is worth the visit!

Proud Mary

Is it just me or do you see Tina Turner here too?

American Girls Fashion Show

I have some things to catch you all up on, including a date with my oldest, to see the American Girls Historical Fashion Show at the Art Center of the Ozarks. I think this show travels around a bit, and if you ever have one in your area, it is totally worth the money. The show started with little girls modeling all of the historical outfits worn by the American Girl dolls, with some explanations about the customs and some details about each era. Mattie, being the history buff she is, really enjoyed this part. During intermission, they gave away a number of door prizes, which Mattie won. After intermission, they showed the modern clothes they have available. Afterwards, they served the most darling little boxes of the American Girl characters favorite snacks. As you can clearly see, no matter how cute the dolls are, this face is my favorite American Girl.

Notes from the Show

I'm not sure I can even pick a spot to start telling you all about the show....Thank you all for being so interested and supportive. It was a great experience once I finally got going. Getting there was a ton of work, but considering the fact that I had just 10 days to get ready for it, I think we did all right. I signed up for next year already so I could have the same booth assignment, which would be fine by me because my "neighbors" to the right of me were just darling and I want to be able to see them again, they were so cute. Honestly, I made some good friends with some of the other vendors and they were incredibly supportive of me. In fact, when I sold my big mirror...my biggest sale....the other vendors applauded. Wasn't that nice of them? It was like being queen for the day.

Well, Becky, I didn't sell it all, but I did sell about a third of my pieces including the big mirror, the orange letterbox, and the small round table you see in the pictures. I passed out over 75 business cards, got two custom orders, three offers to teach classes, one offer to put my stuff in their place on consignment, and another connection with a non-profit organization. I also have a date to grout over the memorial plate of the house of 85 year old twins who live in town and hate the fact that their house has somebody else's name on the foundation. They said I looked like a clever girl who could make it "right" for them. I suspect I can fix it in such a way that the next owners will be delighted to uncover the house's history!

This show was put on by the hospital auxiliary, who also run one of the thrift stores that save their broken wares for me. Many of the volunteers came down to see my booth and what I do with their broken odds and ends. They were so excited to see what I do and have two more boxes of broken goods for me.

On Friday and Saturday, I brought a shallow box and a set of teacups to make decorative mosaic balls and some small trays as a demonstration. I think this brought more people into the booth than might have stopped otherwise and I actually sold a small tray as I finished grouting it. It was not yet dry, but the lady was very happy with it. This also passed the time.

Saturday proved to be a much better day for sales with 7 items going out that day. I was pretty happy with the outcome overall, but the other crafters told me that this year was quite slow in comparison and that they hoped I wasn't too discouraged to try again next year. They cited the economy and also the weather being so perfect all weekend as factors. This is a huge crafting weekend in our area with the biggest show being an outdoor one at War Eagle Mill. It usually rains at least one day of this fair, sending people to the indoor shows. Since it remained fine all weekend, the other crafters thought this might be a factor for the slowness.

With a year to prepare instead of 10 days, I have lots of ideas for next time. I learned a lot about the way the shows work and have some ideas of things I would do a little differently. All in all, though it was really fun to have face to face contact with people and see their reactions to my work. It was especially interesting from where I was sitting to see people stop and look at the small items in the green flower-box on the front of the orange door.

The van is not even unloaded yet. I have about a thousand things to do, not the least of which is getting my etsy store back in order. I am looking forward to getting my house and yard in order, catching up on church work, emails I haven't had time to read, and the like. I intended to sit around and do nothing today, but I might be too anxious to get things settled back into normalcy. I'm especially looking forward to having a nice meal with my family tonight. I've eaten all of my meals in the last 5 days off a paper plate, or perched on my lap, or in the car. It will be a novel treat to eat off a plate instead of smashing it for a change!

quick update

One more day of the show, and I (and about 50 other vendors) are hoping that business picks up tomorrow. I sold just two things today around 10 a.m. this morning and then the day went on 'til 8 p.m. Yesterday was pretty good, though. I had a great time networking, however, today. You never know how things will play out when you are able to connect with other people....your ideas plus their ideas....it gets interesting.

I got sick on Wednesday night and lost my voice, not to mention the craziness involved with getting the show together with more ideas than time to execute them. When Thursday morning rolled around, Robb got ready to leave for work and tried to kiss me goodbye and I just cracked....like a fragile little egg. I just burst into tears and begged him not to leave me. And you know what? He took a vacation day and stayed with me. He took the kids to school and got me coffee throughout the day and just generally was my hero. I feel so spoiled and a little ashamed for falling apart, but I was just so freakin' tired and spent and, as we say at our house, frail. I must have told him ten times how much it meant to me to have him be there for me. It was just one of those moments...

Today, my girlfriend Jasmine came to sit with me and help. She helped the day go by so quickly. It made the day very enjoyable, even without making much by way of sales.

So we'll see what happens tomorrow. All total, I have sold 9 out of 40 pieces. I won't feel too badly if it's not all gone because it will be good to have some stuff in my Etsy store. I've met some wonderful people and I have so enjoyed the display and merchandising part of selling that I don't usually get to do with the online store. It's fun to see people's faces as they study each piece. I've gotten a lot of offers to teach some classes, which I will most likely do, when I can. This is the kind of craft you don't mind sharing your tips about since everyone makes it differently.

Enjoy the photos, Mom!

Deep Satisfactory Sigh

We just got home from church about 45 minutes ago and yes, it is 7:22 p.m. It's been a long day, but a very, very satisfying one.

Time for some tea and toast and oh yeah....mosaics....Just three days until the craft fair.

Men At Work

Last week, I spent about half my time working on the new church building by myself, and about half the time with other people....most of those other people were men. Men at work, I observed, are very different than women at work. This is not a bad thing. I hovered over one particular job every day for a week, fluttering around a pile of ceiling tiles and insulation and conduit and other junk, hoping that somehow I could hoist it up with my butterfly wings and make it go away. I and my other female friend, tended to stay in constant motion, working steadily at small projects, with very little sitting still.

Men, I observed, have a very different way of working. And that could not have been more obvious than when I worked on the building with a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter and a computer service manager.

The men started to appear around 5:30. I'd been there for an hour or so already, finishing small projects. They'd roll in and observe what was done, congratulate somebody for what had been done and then go survey their job. They joked around a bit, moved a couple of large heavy objects, made some more jokes, and then stood back to survey again. At some point, coffee comes on the scene or a sandwich. Large, heavy objects get moved again. Jeans are hoisted back into position. Then they need to make a Lowe's run. I personally hate to make a Lowes run in the middle of a job and would rather use a screwdriver to finish the job if I have to, than to stop and go get some other tool. But the men don't seem to mind. They made two Lowes' runs that night, I think. They return with the proper materials and turn on a CD. When that CD runs out, after they have sung with their favorite song, another guy picks a CD. More joking. Or they tell a sweet story about their kids. Or pretend their wife is hard on them, when you can tell all along they adore her. If the night is a long one, coffee will be replaced with something more refreshing. They stand and survey their work again. Something huge gets accomplished. They sit down and drink another beer. Then they slap their thigh and get up and gather up their tools and disappear. They tend to clean up the majority of their building mess and their tools, but the beer caps remain carefully lined up along the sink. But I don't mind because the pile of stuff in the middle of the kitchen is gone. I can certainly clean up a few beer caps.

I find all this terribly amusing and not at all annoying. When I was younger, I didn't appreciate men that much. I thought they were slow and I got impatient. I was young and stronger then, so I'd kill myself doing things that they could have done in five seconds. Now, I'm more patient. I'm content to wait and let them play out their long routines, junior high jokes and beer included. I like them. I like how different they are from me.

I especially like my own man. He probably didn't think of himself as very handy when we first were married, but now, I think he enjoys the problem solving and the impressing me. On this building project, he was needed, and so he jumped in and did anything he knew how to and learned the things he didn't. He got really good at putting down floor adhesive. He painted. He made things happen. He got rid of big piles of stuff nobody seemed to know what to do with. He took one look at my face on Saturday and realized that I didn't have another paint job in me, and so he finished painting the kitchen. He was amazing.

Your daily dose of Charleigh

Yesterday, while walking home from school, Charleigh spotted a dandelion, prime for wishing on. She puffed away at it a couple times and then shared it with me with this admonition...

"Mom, you better ask Jesus for a pony."

And at dinner last night, she treated us with these poses to show off her muscles....which honestly....are really ripped for a four year old!