A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

make your pants a pyramid!

I'm so sorry. I just couldn't resist sharing this delightful spam mail subject that I noticed in my bulk mail box this morning. I've been saving a number of really good ones, all on the same theme including: claim your 7-inch penis here!; easily to get male package; a penis is a terrible thing to waste; an amazing growth of your stick!; and rooster challenged men can now improve their lives! Who writes this stuff?? Okay, it's out of my system so we can go back to our regular G-rated programming now.

What a week this has already been. Our last week in Memphis and on top of packing, last minute buying & eating out, finishing up projects, and sending out overdue packages we've been struggling with sick kids and broken hearts. We learned Sunday morning that my dearest friend lost her brother who was killed Saturday serving in Iraq. There is so much sadness and loss that dear friends and family have been experiencing and, here in Tennessee, we've felt so unable to just be there with them. Another good reason for going home.

We did finally buy a new camera over the weekend. Ours has been taking terrible pictures for months. We splurged on a Cannon Powershot S5 IS and there is so much to learn about it that it may be several more months before we can come up with decent pictures again. We have been shooting everything that will stand still and lots of things that won't.

Gotta get to work now, the days are short and there is still lots to do to make this move happen. In just 4 days. Yikes.

feathering the nest

I'm trying to hit all the good thrift stores one last time before we leave town. I've been thinking January should be a good thrifting month after all the bingeing of the holidays and then new year's purging. So far, I've been right on. Sunday's thrifting uncovered these goodies. The art deco-ish bird calendar dish towel is my favorite. And the rhinestone shoe clips. But yesterday's spree was even better and I came home with a giant rocking sack of fabrics that are still going through the laundry so no pictures yet, but take a look at these.

I came across a sewing project online using Tracy Porter's fabrics from Joann's and fell in love them. Aren't they pretty? I haven't been this excited about a line of fabrics in a long while but the best part is actually the price: $5 a yard! So I bought a yard of everything. Well, not everything, but a lot. I'm going to use them in a lap quilt for the living room. A kind of welcome home gift for the family. Or, you know, for me. Whatever.

I've saved a special piece of this pretty print for an embroidered pillow. I've been freaking out over Anna Maria Horner's needlepoint pillows and wool rugs so I'm seeing something kinda like that to keep me calm until I can get one of Anna Maria's for myself. I'm trying to save the embroidery for the trip home, but we have less than a week of cable left--no cable TV at home, thank God--and I need something to do while I watch just one more episode of Law & Order SVU into the wee hours of the morning. Then I'm going to bed. For real this time.

looking forward

My pin cushion using Bari J's tutorial. I tried to use a more elegant combination of fabrics like Bari does, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have gone for the animal print. But, hey, I gotta be me.

Good things about being back home again:

• Seeing friends and spending time with them again.
• Getting back into regular Bible teaching. We've visited several great churches here, but it just isn't the same as being there every week studying through a whole book of the Bible with the same (excellent) teacher. I think we'll be back in time to start Romans 1-5--yippee!
• Being in our own home and back into our regular routine of life. We've tried to keep up the routine here but it has still been a bit like being on vacation for 3 months--which is a good thing, but gets old.
• Having the dog back and seeing the chickens. We've since found out one of the chickens, Beyond, is really a rooster. We thought she was just a really huge, mean hen. Turns out....
• Having access to all my fabric.
• Having a place to paint and make a big mess creating.
• Even though it isn't Winter in the strictest sense and I will miss it so, this time of year is nice in South Texas. Very Spring-like. 
• Actually getting started on the down-sizing. This might be a negative, too. I get a little panicky thinking about how it's all going to work.

I'm trying to finish up as many projects as possible before we leave so there are lots of works in progress spread out all over the place.

Still into the Christmas crafting. This will be a pillow but I'm planning on a little embroidery work in the white square and some hand quilting elsewhere that I'm saving for the drive back to Texas. I love the look of patchwork with embroidery mixed in.

My--ahem--Winter coat. Just in time for returning to the Equator where it will be completely unnecessary. I only have the sleeves, hem, and button holes left to do. Not my favorite parts so I keep putting it off.

I also have a stack of clothes to be finished up and a huge pile of new fabrics to be ironed. Why is ironing pretty fabric so much more enjoyable than ironing boring old clothing? Or is it just me?

it feels like starting over

 

In two weeks we will be leaving Tennessee behind and returning home to Texas. But then what? We've been talking about it for weeks because there was, not surprisingly to me, a very generous offer to stay for a month longer or to make Memphis our new home. I admit, though I tried not to dwell on it, implicit in the opportunity to come here was the hope that we might be able to make a real move out of it. Somehow. When we loved it here, I wanted to just focus on the time we had and not worry about what would happen when it was over. But then the longing for "home" began to surface and when the offer to stay came, it quickly became obvious to both of us that as much as we like it here, it was time to leave. Thankfully, I was fine with that. I am fine with it, but as the time to leave gets nearer, I'm feeling the pull of what we will leave behind and wonder what it is we will be going home to.

Today I found myself driving around town glad just to be out of the house for a while. The kids's viral infections turned to sinus and ear infections and they've hardly poked their noses out in a week and a half. So, even though we didn't really have anywhere to go, no one wanted to go home so we drove around, listened to music and just thought about where we are. Suddenly this simple chorus took my breath away:

If you feel lost, if you feel lost, sing along.

If you feel tired, if you feel tired, sing along.

If you feel lost and tired, this is your song.

Oh, my God

Shine your light on us

That we might live.

I've been holding on

All that is inside me

Screams to come back home.

(Check out my new favorite album by the Robbie Seay Band here.)

That's what I've felt for so long: lost. Without a home. The Rio Grande Valley has never really felt like home, but we've been away from Austin too long and it's not home anymore either. To be honest, I don't want to stay in Memphis but I don't want to go back to the Valley. So, where to go from here?

I guess homeless isn't the worst thing we could be. At least we'll be in good company. It reminds me of a favorite Rich Mullins song:

Birds have nests, foxes have dens,

But the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man.

You had the shoulders of a homeless man.

You did not have a home.

Here's to fresh starts. Cheers.

the flu 2008: a review

I've been gone longer than intended but we took a little break from daily life to try out this year's flu bug. Pretty bad, I have to say. I found myself suddenly sick the day before John left town for a quick trip back home. After a few days of lonesome misery, Soren then Maisey decided to join me and we were all out sickies for the whole week. I think I've finally gotten my strength back but the headache and cough are lingering. The kids were so sick, that for two days straight Soren lay on the couch or floor staring into space without attempting a single time to play with or even touch a toy, book, crayon, etc.  Today, though, they pushed some toys around, spoke above a whisper and actually ate food. Whew. Life will eventually return to normal. Next year I will not keep putting off the flu shot.

Since it pretty much felt equally miserable to anything or nothing, I did manage to work on a few very simple sewing projects. Some tiny pin cushions and a few Christmas decorations for next year.

Of course, the minute I saw Bari J.'s excellent pincushion tutorial, I knew I had to make one but I was a lot sicker than I had yet realized and those perfectly aligned corners kicked my butt! Oh, but she's pretty. Wonky corners and all. I should be able to share a few pictures tomorrow. Let's hope the healing trend continues.

1, 2, 3...1, 2, 3....

A good friend is priceless. One who knows you well and sends you gifts is almost too good to be true. My sweetest friend Darlene never forgets me on Christmas or my birthday and often sends me boxes of goodies throughout the year. This is what I got for Christmas: the most gorgeous dish towel I've ever seen (from Anthropologie) and some Lotta Jansdotter sticky notes. Love the birds!

My mother-in-law also blessed us with a gift basket full of the world's best pancake mix straight from our hometown favorite restaurant Kerby Lane Cafe in Austin--hallelujah! I can't tell you how ecstatic I am to share the link with you because after looking it up, I now know I can buy more pancake mix online--oh, bliss! (Thanks Tita!)

I love my dish towel so much. She is so beautiful I just might frame her. I guarantee you will never see me dry my hands on her, let alone a dish. On second thought, if I could bring myself to consider cutting, she would make a lovely dish towel apron. Hmm, I can see us now, whipping up a batch of gingerbread pancakes together, waltzing across the kitchen floor... and that's just how good they are. Seriously.

pretty as a princess

I'm still feeling the Christmas thing a little. The cold Tennessee air that lingers long, instead of bursting on the scene for a day or two leaving behind only a wisp of steam from the still hot concrete to remind you of "Winter", keeps me in a festive mood. You know, wanting to eat too many sweets, spend money, make pretty stuff--all the things I'm sure the Angel of the Lord was thinking of when he told the shepherds to rejoice. I picked up some discounted Christmas fabric, decorations, and ornaments to do a little late in the season crafting, or early for next year depending on how you look at it. I freaked out over Sweet Jessie's sparkly wreath and have to make one ahead for next year. Her tutorial makes it look so much easier than I would have thought. I love this succulent wreath, too, but I'll probably wait until we get home for that one.

The day has come, I'm glad to say, when I'm actually looking forward to going home--gasp! Not looking forward to returning to the Rio Grande Valley, but I miss our friends, our church, the dog and I'm ready not to be living in limbo anymore. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed living in Memphis and I don't really want to leave, but "home" is calling. I can feel it.

   

But it has taken us coming 1,000 miles away from home to teach me a few things I desperately needed to understand. Most importantly, I've realized the first step to living simply is to down-size and I'm still so excited about doing it for real when we get home. Every day this simple lesson hits me in a new way and I'm more determined to do it at whatever the cost. That said, when I get back into our now seemingly too-big house overflowing with stuff that has been sitting alone collecting dust for the past 3 months, I might need a little encouragement and support to keep from going under from the sheer weight of it all. The other important lesson I've learned being here is that we are really lazy. We have done more and had more fun as a family here in Memphis than we've had in years. Every week we look for things to do in town, going out of our way to fit everything in and on Saturdays we always get out of the house to do something as a family. And it has less to do with the fact that Memphis has a lot more going on around town than you can find in the Valley but more to do with how busy and lazy we let ourselves get.

Last week my littlest girl turned 5. She may be the smallest in the family, but she is also the loudest and has the most personality--one that couldn't hardly be more different than mine. She is the world's biggest flirt, wants everyone to love her, thinks she knows everything, loves anything pink, and is princess-obsessed. Unfortunately, she has a Momma who sometimes has difficulty relating to her interests and who, in a moment of exasperation that she will be reminded of to her dying day, swore never to buy her anything "princess" ever again. But I think I made it up to her, with bags full of pink and purple, sparkles, jingles, lip gloss, nail polish, soft fuzzies and--yes--princesses galore. But first, she was treated to a carriage ride in her best ball gown....

It was the most fun I've had in a long time. And the best part, which was not lost on this pretty princess want-to-be, was the gasp of every little girl we saw that night stopping to exclaim, "Oh Momma, look at the princess!" I'm ready to do it again.