7 Quick Takes: Maybe Autumn Edition

--1--

Saying out loud that one is happy and content is a sure invitation for the troubles of the world to smack you upside the head to remind you of reality.  The last few days have really conspired to give me a bad taste in my mouth.  But you know what?  I refuse to let these things get me down.  I fought too hard and too long for this peace, and I'm not giving up so lightly.  So yeah, I had a few bad days, and yeah, I didn't laugh my way through them, but I did pick myself up at the end of them, smile, and move on.  Fake it 'til you make it, I say. And anyway, nothing seriously bad happened.  Just minor annoyances.

--2--

So the weather seems to be have a bit of a schitzophrenic break--it will be cool and mid-60s one day, and then hot and mid-80s the next.  The forecast says rain, and it is sunny; it says sunny and it pours all day.  Seriously, I'm confused.  And having a hard time knowing what to wear!  It is rainy today and 69 degrees, which is a nice temp for a bit of layering, but the humidity is making it feel a bit sticky.  And then I went to Trader Joe's and froze my little petunia off (bonus points to anyone who knows that particular not-so-literary reference). Annnd, now you have zero respect for my taste in books.  It's okay.  I'm fine with that.

--3--

Speaking of books, I just started reading Jane Eyre for the first time ever.  I was quite enamored of the most recent movie version (I'm on a bit of a Michael Fassbender kick of late), and thought I should just read the book already.  So far I'm enjoying it, although I confess that I've put it down a few times to dip into Sherlock Holmes for the nth time.

--4--

As we've now lived in this house for five years (and that is the longest I have ever lived ANYWHERE, just for the record), I find myself in the unfamiliar territory of decor-fatigue.  I want to change some things around, put some things away, and just refresh the house a bit.  To that end, I took down three pictures that held a series of photographs I took a long time ago of doorways in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.  I replaced them with some of the photos I took this summer in Austria, and I'm so pleased with the new look. (This is the wall in the third floor stairwell, which is why they stair step up that way).  I also moved a few pictures around, and somehow, having them in a different location feels sort of fresh.  Now on to decorative pillow covers...

--5--

I am feeling rather like a tech genius just now.  (Just call me Steve).  My husband bought a new-to-him-but-older-generation iPod Touch off ebay a few weeks ago, as his even older iPod Touch was starting to be wheezy and ill, and perhaps headed to hospice care soon.  He generously (snort) offered me his old one.  The catch was that he had to transfer the contents of the old iPod onto the new one and for some reason the new one wasn't recognizing our network and didn't like connecting to my husband's computer to sync.  I fiddled with it a while, he fiddled with it a while, and then gave up.  I took it to a tech support place, and they couldn't do anything for it, so I made an appointment at the Apple Genius bar for the following day.  I went home, plugged everything in again, and this time, I got it!!  I was finally able to download the latest version of iTunes (we've had trouble downloading it before), and even to run an update on the old iPod, which suddenly ceased wheezing and complaining and headed into the land of well-being.  I wiped the new iPod of everything, started fresh with the sync, and downloaded the latest update for that version, and voila, all ready to go.  That said, I don't love typing on a small screen, and use it only a little, mostly as an mp3 player.  

--6--

I mostly don't want to turn into the person who is always on a device, especially around the kids.  Boo saw me checking a recipe on it the other day in the kitchen, and pointed at me and said, "Hey!  That's Papa's!  It's not yours!"  So I don't keep it in my pocket, and try to put it in a drawer out of the way, so I have to go get it if I want to use it.  So far so good.  I'm mostly a peaceful Luddite.

--7--

And finally, eye candy.  Oh wait, not that kind.  The card kind!

This was my swap for September.  I just realized that the one I photographed is missing the rhinestone in the crown, but oh well.  The rest of the swaps had a little rhinestone in the middle of the crown.  Subtle, but effective.  I think this is my new motto.  I rarely go crazy over hostess sets, but this one was my immediate must-have.  I love-love-love it!!  (Especially given my vintage flair)  I tried to make it look like a vintage poster of the same by "aging" the Very Vanilla with crumb cake sponging.  Oh, and for the record, since it seems a lot of people don't know the origin of this particular saying, it was used as a sort of national slogan during WWII in Britain.  It was introduced by the British Government in 1939 as a morale booster after the Nazi invasion of Poland, but wasn't actually in wide use during the war.  A poster was discovered in the archives in 2000 and reissued, where it has been given a firm place in pop culture.

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"

Graham Greene wrote in The End of the Affair that happiness is even harder to write about than goodness.  I've had a lot of things on my mind lately that I wanted to write about here, but I've had a hard time putting fingers to keyboard to put my thoughts down ("putting pen to paper" has a much better ring to it, but there it is).  The basic reason for my silence is happiness.  In the last few months, I've come to a place of contentment and even, dare I say, happiness.  I've made peace with myself about some things; made peace with our house; made peace with our city (mostly), and with so many of the realities that make up our lives here.  So it has been hard to find my writing voice in the middle of that process.  

Photo: Maxim Vyshegorodstev

I'm not a chirpy my-glass-overfloweth-type person.  I've never even been a glass half-full or -empty sort of person.  I've long been a glass-broken-and-shattered-on-the ground type of person.  So this new state of being is different for me.  Not unwelcome, just different.  Which is not to say that I don't have frustrations in my daily life--I have plenty--but I find I'm able to bounce back from them more easily.  Case in point: this morning started off extremely badly.  We all had a bad night because of various sick and can't-yet-sleep-through-the-bloody-night-yet children and everyone woke up ill-tempered.  My husband and I were snapping at each other, the boys were fighting and making trouble, Birdie was shrieking over every little thing.  I got madder and madder, and started to feel that all my hard-won gains of late were going down the drain.  My husband was storming around trying to fix his suddenly-defunct iPod touch and also deal with some last minute work crisis, I was trying to clean up the mess Boo made at breakfast after my husband gave him yogurt (always a mistake in my book) and deal with Birdie's constant shrieking for some food item she saw but couldn't reach (she had plenty of things on her tray, but any time she sees a new thing, she has to have it Right. Now).  Short to say, the atmosphere was unpleasant.  I stood at the kitchen sink fuming, washing yogurt-encrusted bowls, bibs, and other impedimentia, and suddenly, I felt calm again.  I realized I was being terrible and crabby, and that we all just needed to hit the reset button and start again.  I took a deep breath, finished the dishes, made my husband a faux latte (a sort of coffee drink of my own concoction) and brought it upstairs as a peace offering.  

"Peace." I said.  He took the cup with a word of thanks. 

"I'm sorry.  Let's start over," I said.  We hugged and all the tension in the house seemed to float out the window.  

So now I'm sitting here reflecting on how quickly this day has turned around.  I'm still exhausted from the night and emotionally spent from worrying about my kids, but I'm calm and composed.  I'll get some strong coffee from Starbucks this morning while we run errands and that always helps me perk up.  But mostly, I'm still happy.  And trying to remember what the Monty Python boys always say.

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

7 Quick Takes: Dodgy Wedding Trip Edition

--1--

Last week, we traveled to Boston for the wedding of my husband's youngest brother.  It was a short flight (thankfully) and relatively uneventful, but the rental car place (Hertz) was something else.  Lines out the door, people waiting for hours to get a car--a total nightmare. I've never seen anything like it.  We were on a tight time frame as my husband was scheduled to give a lecture at 12:30 and our flight arrived at 10:45, so the situation was less than ideal.  It turns out that having three squirrelly kids, two of whom have major diaper disasters in the waiting room puts you right to the front of the line!  We did have to wait almost an hour, but there were people who came in ahead of us still waiting when we left.  

--2--

Our hotel and room left a lot to be desired as well.  The front desk person was completely incompetent, and it took a manager to get someone working on our (reserved) room.  We still had to wait almost two hours to get into our room, though, and we hadn't had anything to eat since our very early breakfast that morning.  Oh, and I was by myself with three completely manic children in a hotel lobby with lots and lots of breakables.  Fab-O. And then the room was damp.  The carpet was soaking wet in front of the bathroom area and damp throughout the rest of the room.  We had reserved two pack-n-plays for the younger kids, and were told they only had one available, leaving us no where to put Boo to sleep.  Again, complete and utter indifference and incompetence from the staff.  I started having a bit of a freak-out at this point, as none of the kids had napped, and I was stuck in the hotel room by myself with the kids for hours and hours, and somehow Birdie's bottle had stayed in the car with my husband.  And she won't yet take a sippie cup.  By the time Stephanos came back to the hotel, I had been force-feeding her formula from a cup with a medicine syringe while we all watched Paula Deen on the Food Network.  It wasn't a pretty sight.  Stephanos took one look at me and the kids and went to the manager to demand some attention.  The manager told us we could get another pack-n-play from one of their sister hotels (but we would have to pick it up and drop it back off again), and that we could move to another room the next day.  

--3--

After all that got sorted, I was much calmer and the trip improved a ton from there.  We spent Friday morning at liturgy at a church we like very much and spent some time talking with the priest and his son about the school that they run there.  We spent the afternoon tooling around Boston Common before heading back to the hotel as Stephanos had to attend the wedding rehearsal dinner that evening (it was too late to bring the kids, so I stayed at the hotel with them).

--4--

The day of the wedding dawned rainy and unpleasant, but it soon perked up and turned out to be a gorgeous day.  I missed most of the ceremony because Birdie was being an absolute pain (she got roseola AGAIN right before we left, so was just a barrel of laughs the whole trip), but the reception was fun.  There was Greek dancing and a few plates got smashed.  Good times.

--5--

The boys were adorable in matching suits, and I even convinced Stephanos to wear a purple tie to match me and Birdie.  

--6--

On a completely unrelated note, I started writing again this week!  I've had this story idea rolling around in my head for a while now, and decided it was time to pull out the old Book in a Month text again and get things rolling.  After working through some of the preliminary exercises and writing a scene or two, I'm not certain I want to live with this story for a long time, and I'm considering doing some writing exercises while I consider my next move. I have this idea of writing a novel that is spare but powerful like Steve McQueen's films.*  He has a way of intimately examining the human condition, and what human beings are capable of doing to themselves and others that is so powerful, but he makes the audience work for it, and I like that.  I don't want to be spoon-fed everything in a film or a book.  Needless to say, such a project isn't just going to fall out of the sky, so I'm doing a lot of reflection and character sketches, trying to figure out what what direction to take.  I'm particularly interested in the burden of memory and the possibility for redemption as a result of Jenna Blum's excellent novel, so I need to do some more thinking in that direction.

*I'm not recommending anyone to see these films--they are not for the faint of heart, and I had to look away for a fair share of at least one of them because of the explicit content.  I had a mighty struggle about whether to see them in the first place, given the gritty nature of the subjects, as I try to be careful about what I see and read.  Having seen them, I can't stop thinking about the themes and the powerful performances, as well as the many questions about the quality of human existence and the possibility of redemption, but they are not for everyone.

--7--

 And a card!  I don't remember if I showed this one or not, but I made it two weeks ago.  It is pretty much a straight CASE of Sandi MacIver's card with a few adaptations.  My youngest sister had her 10th (!!) major surgery last week, so I'm planning to send it to her as a "still thinking of you" kind of deal.  (I sent flowers last week just after she got home from the hospital).

All righty, that's it!  Go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

Remembering...

Remembering all those who lost their lives eleven years ago, September 11, 2001, and reflecting on the forever-changed world we inhabit, September 11, 2012.  

(Image from a friend's FB feed this morning)

7 Quick Takes: Hurtling over Niagara Falls Edition

--1--

Boo started climbing in and out of his crib in earnest last weekend, so I finally gave up and put his crib away.  I already had a mattress for him since I had bought it earlier this summer when he first climbed out, so it was just a matter of pulling it out and putting it on the floor by Piglet's mattress.  Bedtime is going okay, although the first night Boo wandered around for a half an hour in the dark and then started crying because he couldn't find his bed.  Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.  Naptimes, on the other hand, have been awful.  He either stands at the door banging on it and yelling at me to let him out, or he wanders around in the dark causing mayhem.   Yesterday, he pulled my favorite Krygyz sherdak off the wall and spent the afternoon filling his diaper.  I'm hoping today will go better, because seriously, this kid needs to sleep during the day.

--2--

Last Saturday we went to the Renaissance Faire, which is held near Hershey, PA.  The trip out was a little frustrating as we missed our exit due to a combination of road work, screaming kids, and absent-mindedness, and had to go 19 MILES before the next exit to turn around.  Oh, and it was 93 degrees with 90% humidity outside.  We do know how to pick them!  But we had a mostly good time, and we left well ahead of melt-down time, which was good.  

--3--

On the downside, Piglet got stung by a bee as we were leaving (the Faire is held on the grounds of a winery, so there are lots of bees around).  On his face.  On the upside, he doesn't appear to be allergic to bee stings!  He handled it all very well, especially given all his sensory issues, and hardly cried at all.  We got him some ice, and he did try to milk it for all it was worth, but mostly he was fine.  

--4--

I'm so glad that school started on Wednesday!  (Except for the return of the dreaded preschool pick-up, which I don't love).  I had run out of ways to entertain all three kids (and given their ages, it was tricky to find things they could all do at once), and frankly, Piglet was bored and starting to find little ways to make trouble.  Not enough to burn the house down, but just enough to make me fear for my sanity.  Because whatever Piglet does, you can be sure Boo will follow.  And what might be a small naughtiness from one boy will quickly escalate in to large and uncontrolled chaos from both boys.  I'm also struggling to find consequences that mean something to Piglet, because that is what we have found to be effective discipline for him.  But usually the consequences have to be large (i.e. you can't go to the monastery with Papa this weekend, or we won't go play at the Nest) and have a hugely negative effect on me too (i.e. I'm stuck at home with three manic, fighting, crying children in a small space)  I wish it was as easy as taking away his loveys, but honestly, that doesn't seem to make a dent.  I have this fantasy that we are going to find the magic bullet of consequences so that I have something specific to threaten him with every time he is naughty or thinking about naughtiness.  (I know, I know, I sound like one of those squishy parents who can't discipline their children--honestly, I'm not!!  I promise!!  It's just hard with an almost-five-year old with sensory issues who can move around the house at will.)  Le sigh.

--5--

On Tuesday, I lost a few years off my life when Boo fell down the escalator at Cherry Hill mall.  We were there killing some time, and the fountain wasn't on yet (we were going to throw pennies in), so I was letting the boys ride the up and down escalators for a while.  I was following Boo with Birdie in the stroller, and Piglet was starting to get manic, so I said, last ride!  I could tell Boo was about to start trying to walk up and down the steps like Piglet, and he most assuredly is not steady enough for that mess.  Well, long story short (I know, too late), Boo got ahead of me, and then tripped, fell head first down several steps and lay there.  

--6--

I have this recurring dream where something terrible is happening, and I'm trying to scream with all my might, and nothing is coming out except this squeaky little breathy noise (in the same dream, I'm also trying to run toward or away from something awful, depending, and my legs keep moving in slow motion despite my best efforts).  So it turns out, I can scream really really loud when the situation calls for it.  As soon as I saw Boo fall, I screamed and screamed and screamed, left Birdie in the stroller up on the landing between the escalators with Piglet and went running down after Boo.  I picked him up, and while he was upset about the fall, he was mostly unhurt--just a few bumps and bruises.  Thank God for small mercies.  

--7--

I've been waiting until Piglet was old enough to handle longer stories to order A Hive of Busy Bees, and decided this week it was time.  Thanks to lovely Amazon Prime shipping, we got it Wednesday, and have been reading a chapter each night.  Turns out the second chapter is about bee stings--perfect!  My grandpa read this to my mom as a child, and to me when I was little, so it is fun to pass this tradition forward and have my children (hopefully!) learn a few virtues in the process.  Tonight?  Bee Obedient.  How timely!

Bonus: 

My Faux Patina card!  I've been playing around with the technique this week whilst designing stamp camp cards, and I really like it!!  This card is much prettier in person, but I think you get the general idea.  The only thing I changed was to use a crumb cake base, as it gave the finished panel a deeper, more aged look. A very vanilla or whisper white base works, but the overall effect is slightly different.  Crumb cake cardstock also saves the step and mess of having to brayer your emboss folder (which I always find gives uneven results anyway).  Want to learn how to make it?  Come to stamp camp next weekend!  (Registration details are on the link).

Go see Jen for more quick takes!

Shadow Boxes

I've been designing projects for my upline, Claire, for her fall stamp camps, and one thing we wanted to try was shadow boxes.  I've had in mind to try these for a while, since they look so neat, and can mail flat.  I love how they both came out!  It was the first time in a while I've done some truly original design work.

On the first one, I used the Comfort Cafe paper as my starting point for a color scheme and went from there.  I pulled out the new set Summer Silhouettes and started messing around.  It took a few tries to get something I liked, but I'm pretty happy with this result.  I also used the new set One in a Million for the sentiment in the middle--this set is great for focal point sentiments, and it has the sentiments paired if you want to stamp something on the inside of the card--how great is that??  I'm planning to give this card to my brother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law for their wedding that is coming up soon.

When I was digging through my stamps to find Summer Silhouettes, I also pulled out Postage Due and it just screamed SHADOW BOX at me.  (Do your stamps do that to you?  I find mine are very vocal sometimes). I had a card from the big catalog in my head for the color scheme (Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Island Indigo, and Early Espresso), but the whole rest of the card diverged from there.

 I just started poking bits here and there and voila, a collage shadow box!  I'm very pleased with the way this one came out.  If you want to make one yourself, check out Claire's stamp camps for October--it is part of the line up!

I'm off to Payless for the third time in 24 hours to sort out Boo's shoes for the wedding.  I should have just taken him with me to begin with, but every outing with him is such an ordeal, I was hoping to avoid it.  Oh well. At least I know they have the next size in stock. Wish me luck!