the bed update

These posts I have been making are just so completely random--but that is how my life is at the moment!  As always, there are so many things I would love to say to you all, and so little blogging/brain-fresh time, so I find myself putting on hold telling you the things that are probably most important, and instead telling you the things that are easy to say.

But I am sure there are things I was sharing at the end of last year that you would like an update on--so consider this the first in a series of random updates! 

The bed project.

So, this has been going sloooooooooowly. However, we have made progress.  We are building four connecting bunks, basically two "L" shaped beds, one on top of the other.  We are using an antique bed we found locally for some of it, just because.  We have sourced and purchased and transported all the additional wood we should need to make the beds (DH wanted hardwood because it would be more attractive and stronger. Fine with me.)   I bought the fabric and at least most of the batting we will use to upholster the sleeping platforms (in lieu of traditional mattresses we are building in padding, and then the kids will have some additional personal bedding on top).  We have finalized the overall design.  DH has prepared his work space in the carport and the wood is ready there for the working.  In fact, he's out there right now "ripping" boards to get the sizes he needs to start the actual construction.

This is all really good.

We still need to hunt down a few specialty bits, to hold certain parts of the beds together as strongly as possible, esp. where we are using the antique wood.  And while the overall design is done, we need to finalize design of some of the trickier parts, such as where piece of wood are joined and how to make sure everything is well supported (while still meeting my requirements for being attractive).  So much goes into a project before the actual building begins! Then after he cuts the pieces, I will be sanding and staining them.  And then we need to get the plywood for the sleeping platforms and I will upholster them (that part should be the easiest--just wrap and staple, no finished edges to worry about).

So, most of the work is yet to happen.  However, I am choosing not to be discouraged by that--instead, I'm just going to be patient and content do my best to help each small step of the project go as smoothly and quickly as possible.  It's zen home makeover.  It's good for my spirit, and my marriage. : )  And I want to celebrate each step completed too!  With that in mind, I finally took photos of the beds, so we have "before" shots:

The original footboard, and one of the long sidebars.  The original bed is a 3/4 size. 

The headboard.  Photos taken at night, so not the best lighting.  As you may be able to see, especially if you double click on any of the photos to enlarge them, there is a finish on the wood that the antique dealer said was a milk paint finish, and it does have charm (just needs a good cleaning). But just last night we were debating whether we should just strip the wood so we can try to stain it the same as the maple we bought for other parts of the beds (the old bed is possibly maple--or cherry. Not sure.) I dunno--one more step to the process, and a tedious and messy step at that. But we might end up with one post that we are going to have to sand down anyway, which means that area at least might need to be re-finished. . . I welcome your opinions.  I wish DH would just let me paint over the old finish and then "antique" it. . . but he is not a fan of painted wood, so said I could only do that if we first stain it and then don't like how it looks.  (And if I go to the trouble of sanding and staining all this wood, you know I'm not going to want to paint over it.)

Anyway, the new beds are underway!

And it is none too soon.  The girls have definitely outgrown the single, and while they are still sleeping well at night, they are having trouble getting settled when they first get into bed.  They are staying awake longer, which might be somewhat from getting older and needing less sleep, but might also be because they are so snug together. 

Which so far has been fine, and even adorable:

Fall, 2013

And sometimes downright hilarious:

Sleeping tangle, Winter 2013

Smiley has been sleeping in the crib, which is set up under the bunk.  He still has plenty of room, and has been content:

The old bunk bed (DH's when he was a boy) has served us well:

Reading before bed

 

Doing school (or trying to)

And bouncing on bigger siblings

And general cuddling and bonding.

We're a close-knit bunch, and I think a lot of that has to do with how we sleep.  I don't regret a bit of the closeness they have gained from the old arrangement, and we even designed the new beds to foster the same kind of fun and sharing spaces. 

But I'm still going to be so happy when the new bunks are done!

pseudo-Steampunk silliness

As I find newfound energy and interest in writing here, I am also picking up writing on my other blogs too.  So sometimes when I am quiet over her it is because I am using my blogging time somewhere else. (Sometimes in the comments on one of your blogs!) 

Just this past week I had a spurt of creative thinking about clothes again, which got me looking around on the web for ideas and possibilities--my favorite kind of shopping, since there's more pleasure to be had in the looking than in the buying. ; )  As I've been evaluating my wardrobe this Fall and Winter, I'm trying to figure out what clothes need to go, and what clothes just need a little help to be fully used and appreciated. I have a lot of hand-me-downs, and odds and ends, and limited closet space, and am in major purge mode--so whenever I have free moments and enough brain function, I've been thinking through my wardrobe. 

And yes, when I do need to buy something for my wardrobe, I still get a kick out of trying to see if I can find it the least bit neo-Victorian.  I still have my "secret" fantasies about a "Real World Steampunk Wardrobe," and if nothing else, it makes me smile inside when I am wearing something on the outside that reflects the me on the inside.

So, over the past 6 months or so, I've been trying various wardrobe pieces together, and having my Dear Husband take photos (usually after church).  Then I download them to the computer to see how I *really* looked--and am usually disappointed, and often not a little embarrassed.  Oh well.  The times when I get an outfit that makes me happy make up for the times I look at the photos and am hoping it looked better while I was in motion.  As in the old saying, "they'll never notice from the back of a galloping horse," right?

But I've just started sharing some of my "Real World Steampunk Wardrobe FAILS" over on Minnie Zephie's Steampunk Treasure Trunk.  Of course I don't expect you to follow over there--that's my little fun escape world, so completely different from the kinds of real-world things I share here. But I thought you all might enjoy the first posting in the series--Steampunk, 70's style! 

(Or is it more 80's? I could not quite put my finger on what designer and time I was channeling--all I know for sure is that it was not. at. all. Steampunk. ; )

Here's the link, if you are in the mood for light-hearted fashion talk!

mending

Today I had a little bit of time in the afternoon to do something productive, and so I brought out the big bag of Things To Be Mended, which always seems to maintain the same volume no matter how much I mend, and which has been mocking me from the bottom of my closet for a few weeks now.  Today I actually pulled it out, got the sewing kit out, and started work--even though I had a lingering headache and really didn't feel like doing it.  Going through all the closets is one of the things I've been working on since our Christmas break--not just "out with the old, in with the new," although I have been doing that too, but a more systematic re-assessment of what is working in how we use the closet space, what needs to change, what is taking up valuable real-estate that is not worth it any more and needs to be moved elsewhere, etc. So attacking this seemingly huge bag overflowing with items to be mended just seemed the next step today.

But.  My Sunny girl has had a rough transition back into real life after the holidays, and esp. into school this week.  She was not really having trouble with the work given her--she did a good job making good choices and keeping a positive attitude about all that this week--it was more her heart had broken bond with mine, and so she has slipped back into old patterns of sassiness, interrupting, arguing, and generally disrespecting me.  Yesterday I told her it had to change, and then today there was a moment when I gently reminded her of something and she was rude back, so I gently but firmly called her out for it, and she did not handle it well, so she ended up in a time-out in the bedroom. When I went to see if she was cooled off and was ready to apologize, she didn't handle that well either, and basically kept trying to make it my fault why she did what she should not have.

But.  God has been doing such a good work in me the past couple of months, and so I knew this was happening because of the broken bond, so I stayed patient, and I stayed in the bedroom with her, listening, talking, and keeping on pointing her to truth, and finally broke through her self-focus and we ended up having a really, really good time of re-bonding.  Seriously good for both our hearts.

It also took a good 40 minutes.  When I left the room and saw it was time to make dinner and I would have to abandon the mending, I mentally grumbled, "Great. There goes the mending."

Then a little voice in my head whispered, "But you did the mending that was the most important today."

One more reminder that I want to always be willing to let go of my own do-to list, and be ready and willing to do whatever it is God has placed before me in any given moment.   It will always, always be the better thing.

about that blogging. . .

(started in the morning. . . )

So I have started trying to blog twice this morning, and life keeps interrupting. And then I thought at least I could share some cute photos, but my Dear Husband must have updated something on the computer and now the photo software seems to think I don't have permission to do things with photo files, so isn't letting me.  (I'm sure DH will easily remedy this by tomorrow)  But by golly, I'm going to stick to my increased blogging vow, so I'm just going to write one little thing and savor the accomplishment. ; )

First, thank you four lovely readers for your sweet and encouraging words to my last post/lament. Esp. you Dottie--SO glad you found your way in (because I did not mean to be unhelpful, but could not figure out from my end what might be hindering you logging in) and your assurances that you were inside the cozy room with me really did speak to my heart. : )

(. . . Aaaaaaaaand 9 hours later, that's all I had written.)

But.  Sara came over with her kids and we got over an hour of play and good girlfriend talk--over tea and dark chocolate no less!

And.  Later in the afternoon we went over to Becky's for even more play and GGT--with more tea and dark chocolate.

Then.  I picked up pork BBQ on the way home--a treat, and worth it tonight.

Now. I am so tired, but my tummy (and blood sugar!) are happy.  I am having yet another cup of tea, just because--another treat, and worth it tonight.

I'll have to tell you why I'm so tired, and why I am making friend (and girlfriend!) time such a priority this week. 

But.  I'll consider this much writing a success for one day!  It's been a very long, but very good day.

I hope your 2014 has begun well!

Still Here in the New Year!

Apparently going private has been the death knell for my blog. 

Well, this Fall was extremely busy--more than usual, and Fall is always our busiest time of the year, as most of you with kids can relate to.  This of course means less time for blogging, and more of an urge just to mindlessly troll youtube instead of blogging when I do have free time.  But I think it was more than that--somehow going private felt like closing a door.  I mean, I knew it would feel like that, but thought it would feel more like being inside a cozy room with a warm fire and hot tea and crumpets on the table, and welcoming friends in and shutting the door against the cold.  But it has ended up feeling more small and claustrophobic and. . . alone than that.  As if I'm the only one in the room with the fire and tea with the door shut, just sitting by myself in the warm quiet, staring at the dying embers. . .

Ok, melodramatic.  I was just trying to come up with a picture to go along with the feelings. : )  But this feeling of being more alone is not unfounded; at least one of you few readers contacted me to say you were having difficulty (perhaps still are?) figuring out how to access the blog.  Maybe there are more of you who have not been able to figure it out. 

And if the whole password thing makes it harder or feel like more of an effort to get into the blog, maybe some of you will just stop coming by. . .

And now that it is private, I know updates don't show automatically in feeds and sidebars (or am I wrong about this?) and that too makes it just that much easier to forget to stop by and read.  (In fact, I know some of you have subscribed by email--did this post show up in any feed or email? I would love to know if it did, so you are getting some notice when there is something new here to read.)

And finally, I really liked the blog being public because I harbored the fantasy that God could lead anyone here who might need it--who maybe could use a friendly word, or some encouragement, or to see they are not alone in feeling the way they do about parenting or whatever.  Does that sound egotistical?  I just enjoyed feeling like this blog could be used by God, if He wanted to.  It actually feels more self-indulgent to me to write in this closed circle of safety--where I know I am loved and supported no matter what I write.  I have learned as I get older that it seems like God rarely puts us in safe and cozy places when He desires us to serve Him fully.  So, I'm not saying He was using my blog--but occasionally it seemed like He did, and I loved the thought of it being in His service.

But ANYWAY, it's done, we're private, and it's a brand new year, so I figure I'll just make the most of it for now--which means write about all the things I would want to while it is private, and then always leave myself the option of going back to public down the road. : )

And in the meantime, there is SO MUCH I would love to share with any of you who do stop by.  So my one and only New Year's Resolution this year is to write more again.  Try to make it short and sweet--easier to write, less daunting/snoozeworthy for you to read. ; ) 

(That does not mean I don't have other goals for this year--but they are so much more of the bigger picture that God is showing me that I don't want them to feel like things I'm flippantly resolving to do for a year.  And let me tell you, God has been showing me SO MUCH.)

So I hope you are all doing well, and have started your New Year with fun and family and health and safety and meaning and love and peace.