So, if you are interested in looking at the giveaway, here is the link: HomesteadDryingRacks.com
The Life I Didn't See Coming
1 year ago
Showing posts with label not much better than free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label not much better than free. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
FYI: an old-timey giveaway!
In my breakfast blog-reading this morning I came upon this family blog and a giveaway for some very practical, old-timey items. I would love a nice wooden drying rack!
So, if you are interested in looking at the giveaway, here is the link: HomesteadDryingRacks.com
So, if you are interested in looking at the giveaway, here is the link: HomesteadDryingRacks.com
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturdays, Continued.
OK, so I was telling you Sat. about the first Saturday of Blessing a few weeks back, when I got to spend the whole day with a fabulous group of homeschool moms (maybe I should have mentioned each of the women there I also count as friend--including my dear Becky--which, as you can imagine, totally magnified the fabulousness) being mentored in homeschooling and uplifted by the Spirit.
Then the following Saturday was even more amazing and restorative for my soul.
A friend had told me about a "Community Farm Day" happening at a local organic farm, and so we decided to go as a family. This is where my words are bound to fail me, as I cannot spend enough time on this post to choose all the right words and phrasings to describe the perfect, simple, heavenly goodness of that day. Our goal was to pick organic tomatoes (at $1.50/lb, which is really good for this area), and so we did that first. Happy was my partner, Sunny and Merry teamed up, and DH took Smiley, and we each took separate rows and had WAY more fun picking tomatoes than I ever thought we would.
The day was gorgeous--sunshiney and warm but not too hot, and in about 30 minutes we had picked about 30 lbs of tomatoes! And we ate quite a few too--the farmers had told everyone they would be welcome to eat as much as they wanted right there in the field, and even said to bring your salt-shaker! : ) Somehow the generosity of the farmer spread the warmth of the day throughout my spirit, and even though I have not been the biggest fan of tomatoes in my lifetime, that day has forever changed them for me. It was the first time in my life I ate a tomato right off the vine that was warm, and perfectly ripe, and so sweet. . . I have eaten my fair share of fresh homegrown tomatoes, people, and these tasted like the day--the best I have ever tasted.
When we were done picking, we were just in time to hop aboard a flatbed pulled by a tractor, and got the tour of the farm. The tour stopped midway at the apple grove and everyone got to pick a Gala to eat on the spot, and were invited to pick a few strawberries, and when we got back to the tomatoes, the farmer said we were welcome to pick raspberries and eat what we like while picking. And that is when the day went from amazing to heaven for me. I am allergic to most raw fruits, including apples; raspberries do me no harm, but organic ones are so expensive at the store, and usually pretty flavorless. These were flat-out the best raspberries I have ever tried in my life. No, it was not just the whole experience coloring my taste-buds--other people there said the same thing. So to walk through the comfortably baking raspberry patch picking berries with Smiley and watching him stuff them into his little chubby cheeks, to savor the flavor of those berries and eat as much as I wanted. . . seriously, it was so beautiful.
And then on the way home we stopped at the homes of friends delivering gifts of those lovely tomatoes, since anything that wonderful can only be made better by sharing. Later, those friends also told me the tomatoes were absolutely fantastic--and knowing their pleasure just keeps giving me pleasure.
The event was free. We paid for the tomatoes, but they were a good deal and so worth it. (In fact, while I meant to freeze some for later on, we enjoyed them so much we ate ALL of them fresh over the next two weeks!) I figure we ate at least $20 of raspberries, and I would have paid them for that priviledge. And it was me and my family out in God's bountiful creation, enjoying the sun, the flavors of summer, and one another.
It was the most fun we have had together in a long time (not counting all the fun with my family when they were here--I mean just our little family unit). In fact, I think it is one of the most fun things we have done ever.
And the tomatoes were so worthwhile that I jumped to take advantage of a second opportunity to pick on Saturday, which was why I did not finish this post that day like I had planned! This time it was not the whole farm-utopian event, just tomatoes, so I did not take the whole family but just the girls--but eating those tomatoes again this week brings the first flush of pleasure rushing back.
Then the following Saturday was even more amazing and restorative for my soul.
A friend had told me about a "Community Farm Day" happening at a local organic farm, and so we decided to go as a family. This is where my words are bound to fail me, as I cannot spend enough time on this post to choose all the right words and phrasings to describe the perfect, simple, heavenly goodness of that day. Our goal was to pick organic tomatoes (at $1.50/lb, which is really good for this area), and so we did that first. Happy was my partner, Sunny and Merry teamed up, and DH took Smiley, and we each took separate rows and had WAY more fun picking tomatoes than I ever thought we would.
The day was gorgeous--sunshiney and warm but not too hot, and in about 30 minutes we had picked about 30 lbs of tomatoes! And we ate quite a few too--the farmers had told everyone they would be welcome to eat as much as they wanted right there in the field, and even said to bring your salt-shaker! : ) Somehow the generosity of the farmer spread the warmth of the day throughout my spirit, and even though I have not been the biggest fan of tomatoes in my lifetime, that day has forever changed them for me. It was the first time in my life I ate a tomato right off the vine that was warm, and perfectly ripe, and so sweet. . . I have eaten my fair share of fresh homegrown tomatoes, people, and these tasted like the day--the best I have ever tasted.
When we were done picking, we were just in time to hop aboard a flatbed pulled by a tractor, and got the tour of the farm. The tour stopped midway at the apple grove and everyone got to pick a Gala to eat on the spot, and were invited to pick a few strawberries, and when we got back to the tomatoes, the farmer said we were welcome to pick raspberries and eat what we like while picking. And that is when the day went from amazing to heaven for me. I am allergic to most raw fruits, including apples; raspberries do me no harm, but organic ones are so expensive at the store, and usually pretty flavorless. These were flat-out the best raspberries I have ever tried in my life. No, it was not just the whole experience coloring my taste-buds--other people there said the same thing. So to walk through the comfortably baking raspberry patch picking berries with Smiley and watching him stuff them into his little chubby cheeks, to savor the flavor of those berries and eat as much as I wanted. . . seriously, it was so beautiful.
And then on the way home we stopped at the homes of friends delivering gifts of those lovely tomatoes, since anything that wonderful can only be made better by sharing. Later, those friends also told me the tomatoes were absolutely fantastic--and knowing their pleasure just keeps giving me pleasure.
The event was free. We paid for the tomatoes, but they were a good deal and so worth it. (In fact, while I meant to freeze some for later on, we enjoyed them so much we ate ALL of them fresh over the next two weeks!) I figure we ate at least $20 of raspberries, and I would have paid them for that priviledge. And it was me and my family out in God's bountiful creation, enjoying the sun, the flavors of summer, and one another.
It was the most fun we have had together in a long time (not counting all the fun with my family when they were here--I mean just our little family unit). In fact, I think it is one of the most fun things we have done ever.
And the tomatoes were so worthwhile that I jumped to take advantage of a second opportunity to pick on Saturday, which was why I did not finish this post that day like I had planned! This time it was not the whole farm-utopian event, just tomatoes, so I did not take the whole family but just the girls--but eating those tomatoes again this week brings the first flush of pleasure rushing back.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
important, beautiful, life-saving, free *LINK FIXED
A friend alerted me that the link in this post was broken--and it sounds like mine might not have been the only one, from the new link I made. Please do check out the giveaway--AMAZING STUFF and all going to a great cause!
There is a giveaway--the most amazing giveaway I have ever seen!--happening on this blog from now until the 13th. It is to help find a forever family for a precious Eastern European orphan, Vanya.
He is running out of time to be adopted, and at any time might be moved to an institution where he would spend the rest of his life among the mentally ill and other discarded people. A sweet, deserving child, condemned to a jail-like existence, just because he was born to people who were unhealthy in body and spirit and gave him HIV.
Vanya is completely adoptable, and deserves the chance at a family! There is bound to be a family who has the desire to adopt and hearts for hids with HIV (more and more familes are adopting these kids, from all over the world, and they say it is an entirely managable disease) who will hear about him and when they do, because of this fund-raiser there will be some $ to help jump-start the expensive adoption process and help Vanya get home.
(When bloggers who have visited the orphanages and spent time with the kids advocate for one specific child who they think is really special, I tend to listen. All children deserve homes. But not all children are the kind of kid you just want to sneak home in your pocket, they are so sweet and just want to be loved. I get the feeling Vanya is in the latter category.)
So please jump over and check out the AMAZING goodies you could win! Yes, they are raising funds, so donations are the most obvious way to earn chances to win. But you can also win by posting about this on your own blog, or on facebook!
There is a giveaway--the most amazing giveaway I have ever seen!--happening on this blog from now until the 13th. It is to help find a forever family for a precious Eastern European orphan, Vanya.
He is running out of time to be adopted, and at any time might be moved to an institution where he would spend the rest of his life among the mentally ill and other discarded people. A sweet, deserving child, condemned to a jail-like existence, just because he was born to people who were unhealthy in body and spirit and gave him HIV.
Vanya is completely adoptable, and deserves the chance at a family! There is bound to be a family who has the desire to adopt and hearts for hids with HIV (more and more familes are adopting these kids, from all over the world, and they say it is an entirely managable disease) who will hear about him and when they do, because of this fund-raiser there will be some $ to help jump-start the expensive adoption process and help Vanya get home.
(When bloggers who have visited the orphanages and spent time with the kids advocate for one specific child who they think is really special, I tend to listen. All children deserve homes. But not all children are the kind of kid you just want to sneak home in your pocket, they are so sweet and just want to be loved. I get the feeling Vanya is in the latter category.)
So please jump over and check out the AMAZING goodies you could win! Yes, they are raising funds, so donations are the most obvious way to earn chances to win. But you can also win by posting about this on your own blog, or on facebook!
Friday, September 3, 2010
swagbucks follow-up
Just today I scored 49 SB for one search ("chromosomes"), and then 10 for another ("What Your Kindergartner Should Know")! Whoo-hoo!
I have never won so many in one day--but forgot to mention in my SB post that Fridays are the MUST SEARCH days, because Swagbucks advertizes that they give away bigger prizes on those days.
And I just started participating in the "daily poll" which you access from the Swagbucks search page--takes literally 20 seconds max and gets you 1 SB. Well, if I remember to do that when I am on the computer already, it will be an easy 200 SB a year, I figure. Remember, the goal is to get SB without effort. This fits.
There are also NOSO: "No Obligation Special Offers" you can view daily to earn 1 SB. Takes about 1 minute to click through about 5-6 offers and click the "no" button for all of them--so don't know that I will do this routinely, but maybe. If I did it whenever I also did the poll, then I can easily see 400 SB a year.
Now, it takes 450 SB to get one $5.00 Amazon gift card, which is my goal. So that could seem like a lot of work for very little return. Except I am already getting about 14 SB a DAY (not week, as I first mistakenly wrote) for my usual searches, which I would expect would get me a minimum of 3500 SB a year. . . so add the 400 to that, and you have an EASY 4000 SB a year--which translates to $40 bucks in cold, hard, virtual cash. ; ) I can use that.
AND I did some research into the Swagbucks partner stores, and found out that some of them are ones I plan on using this next year, and you get 2 SB for every 1 dollar you spend. Some of the stores I plan on visiting--so I would be giving them my $ anyway and now get SB as icing on the cake--are The Children's Place, Snapfish, Shoes.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Target, Kohls. . . and since I only order from these places when there are specials on shipping I should be able to score big!
Mom. . . just so you know, Fannie May Candies and Hanna Andersson are two of the partner stores. Ahem.
So for me, Swagbucks is a clear no-brainer. It won't be for everyone so don't consider this a sales pitch but just an FYI.
I have never won so many in one day--but forgot to mention in my SB post that Fridays are the MUST SEARCH days, because Swagbucks advertizes that they give away bigger prizes on those days.
And I just started participating in the "daily poll" which you access from the Swagbucks search page--takes literally 20 seconds max and gets you 1 SB. Well, if I remember to do that when I am on the computer already, it will be an easy 200 SB a year, I figure. Remember, the goal is to get SB without effort. This fits.
There are also NOSO: "No Obligation Special Offers" you can view daily to earn 1 SB. Takes about 1 minute to click through about 5-6 offers and click the "no" button for all of them--so don't know that I will do this routinely, but maybe. If I did it whenever I also did the poll, then I can easily see 400 SB a year.
Now, it takes 450 SB to get one $5.00 Amazon gift card, which is my goal. So that could seem like a lot of work for very little return. Except I am already getting about 14 SB a DAY (not week, as I first mistakenly wrote) for my usual searches, which I would expect would get me a minimum of 3500 SB a year. . . so add the 400 to that, and you have an EASY 4000 SB a year--which translates to $40 bucks in cold, hard, virtual cash. ; ) I can use that.
AND I did some research into the Swagbucks partner stores, and found out that some of them are ones I plan on using this next year, and you get 2 SB for every 1 dollar you spend. Some of the stores I plan on visiting--so I would be giving them my $ anyway and now get SB as icing on the cake--are The Children's Place, Snapfish, Shoes.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Target, Kohls. . . and since I only order from these places when there are specials on shipping I should be able to score big!
Mom. . . just so you know, Fannie May Candies and Hanna Andersson are two of the partner stores. Ahem.
So for me, Swagbucks is a clear no-brainer. It won't be for everyone so don't consider this a sales pitch but just an FYI.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
It's going around. . . a meme--and a GIVEAWAY!
For Susan, because I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading her responses. She got it from another blog, whose author got it from another one. . . and so the sharing of friendly trivialities goes. . . So, just in the spirit of fun--and more purging--I am going to make this post a giveaway too! The winner will receive two brand-new, unopened cassette tapes (yes, they still exist!) of The World Sings Goodnight (Parts 1 and 2). This is music I got as a prize at a baby shower before Smiley was born and which I could not wait to listen to--until I tucked it away and forgot about it until just now, when it seems a little moot. Maybe you know a baby or Mom who will enjoy this? To enter to win, please post a comment in which you share your own answers to one or more of the questions below!)
What color are your socks right now? Believe it or not, thick winter weight Smartwool socks (the ones on the far right). It has been barely 60 degrees in the house in the mornings here. Yes, I live in California. I'll explain in a separate post.
What are you listening to right now? The kids humming and chatting and sometimes arguing while they color.
What was the last thing you ate? Earl grey tea with milk and dark chocolate. (Hey, it was elevensies!)
Can you drive a stick? Yes, and when I do, it is our Subaru WRX, which is super zippy and has no carseats and so I feel like a racecar driver.
Last person you spoke to on the phone? My Dear Husband, calling from work hoping I could find something he had misplaced. One of my official titles around here is Finder of All Lost Things.
How old are you today? 38 years, I think, and I SO can't be bothered to calculate to be sure, let alone figure out the months and days like everyone else did. I'm quite happy with a nebulous age.
What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Sports? TV?
What is your favorite drink? A cup of really good tea, with milk--if it has something tasty on the side. (A cup of tea is not a cup of tea without something tasty on the side.)
Have you ever dyed your hair? In college I did a "dorm job" dying it a darker brown--and it looked pretty much the same as before, except all my hair's natural shine was dulled. I am way too much of a cheapskate to get my hair professionally dyed. If I ever did, I would have the under layer of hair royal blue.
Favorite food? Vegetarian Ethiopian food. Second place, vegetarian Thai food. Third place, anything I didn't have to cook myself.
What is the last movie you watched? Instant download of Rudy last night. Love me a feel-good, underdog, inspired-by-true-events, instantly available movie.
Favorite day of the year? The one on which my family enjoys each other all day long, no matter where we are or what we are doing.
How do you vent anger? When I am realllly mad, I go cry and vent to God.
What was your favorite toy as a child? My little rubber animals--most of them "erasers" shaped like animals that I chose from the prize box one of my elementary school teachers had for rewarding extra good behavior or performance. I think I might still have a couple of them tucked away. . .
Favorite Season? Fall. Esp. out here on Monterey Bay when it is the most gorgeous time of year.
Cherries or Blueberries? Allergic to cherries, so blueberries.
Living situation? Tiny decrepit house filled with too much stuff but just the right number of people.
When was the last time you cried? Last night. (Rudy. What can I say.)
What is on the floor of your closet right now? Tub of out-of-season clothes, basket of shoes, cardboard wrapping paper station, dust bunnies.
What are you most afraid of? Trivial answer--spiders like the one on the left in that photo, which was taken a couple of years ago in the Underbelly of the house, right next to my dryer. The spider's legspan was three inches. Look at how he completely dwarfs "Shelob," who at the time was my residential window sill spider. Spiders are not bad, and whenever we get into spider season, I remind myself that they are useful predators, and for every one spider there are hundreds of prey--meaning insects who will otherwise be invading my home. So I leave the spiders alone outside and under the house, except when we vacuum the Underbelly about twice a year. But this kind of spider has THRICE appeared INSIDE our house in the past year!!! I try not to let the children see my fear.
Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Um. . . how about a good BLT or barbeque pork sandwich instead? If I am eating meat, I go right for the bad stuff.
Favorite dog breed? The Good Old American Mutt. But I have been toying with the idea of a standard poodle for our next family dog, since they are supposed to be a good breed for people with allergies.
Favorite day of the week? Don't have one. Maybe Monday--it feels like a fresh start.
How many states have you lived in? 4. Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, California.
Diamonds or pearls? I wear both almost every day! (My favorite earrings are grey pearl drops--wearing them now!) London blue topaz, too--in my wedding band with the diamond.
What is your favorite flower? Wild chicory. Then come Blue Hydrangea and Love in a Mist (pictured).
Did you get an H1N1 vaccine? No. Don't EVEN get me started.
And since that last question seemed like an odd one to end on, I'm adding two more:
What are you most thankful for at this moment? Every minute = another chance to parent the way I want to, with grace. That and organic dark chocolate with orange.
What is one goal you hope to meet today? To vacuum behind the dresser.
Allrighty sister friends and readers! Please join in the fun and post a comment--I'll randomly select a winner next Monday!
What color are your socks right now? Believe it or not, thick winter weight Smartwool socks (the ones on the far right). It has been barely 60 degrees in the house in the mornings here. Yes, I live in California. I'll explain in a separate post.
What are you listening to right now? The kids humming and chatting and sometimes arguing while they color.
What was the last thing you ate? Earl grey tea with milk and dark chocolate. (Hey, it was elevensies!)
Can you drive a stick? Yes, and when I do, it is our Subaru WRX, which is super zippy and has no carseats and so I feel like a racecar driver.
Last person you spoke to on the phone? My Dear Husband, calling from work hoping I could find something he had misplaced. One of my official titles around here is Finder of All Lost Things.
How old are you today? 38 years, I think, and I SO can't be bothered to calculate to be sure, let alone figure out the months and days like everyone else did. I'm quite happy with a nebulous age.
What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Sports? TV?
What is your favorite drink? A cup of really good tea, with milk--if it has something tasty on the side. (A cup of tea is not a cup of tea without something tasty on the side.)
Have you ever dyed your hair? In college I did a "dorm job" dying it a darker brown--and it looked pretty much the same as before, except all my hair's natural shine was dulled. I am way too much of a cheapskate to get my hair professionally dyed. If I ever did, I would have the under layer of hair royal blue.
Favorite food? Vegetarian Ethiopian food. Second place, vegetarian Thai food. Third place, anything I didn't have to cook myself.
What is the last movie you watched? Instant download of Rudy last night. Love me a feel-good, underdog, inspired-by-true-events, instantly available movie.
Favorite day of the year? The one on which my family enjoys each other all day long, no matter where we are or what we are doing.
How do you vent anger? When I am realllly mad, I go cry and vent to God.
What was your favorite toy as a child? My little rubber animals--most of them "erasers" shaped like animals that I chose from the prize box one of my elementary school teachers had for rewarding extra good behavior or performance. I think I might still have a couple of them tucked away. . .
Favorite Season? Fall. Esp. out here on Monterey Bay when it is the most gorgeous time of year.
Cherries or Blueberries? Allergic to cherries, so blueberries.
Living situation? Tiny decrepit house filled with too much stuff but just the right number of people.
When was the last time you cried? Last night. (Rudy. What can I say.)
What is on the floor of your closet right now? Tub of out-of-season clothes, basket of shoes, cardboard wrapping paper station, dust bunnies.
What are you most afraid of? Trivial answer--spiders like the one on the left in that photo, which was taken a couple of years ago in the Underbelly of the house, right next to my dryer. The spider's legspan was three inches. Look at how he completely dwarfs "Shelob," who at the time was my residential window sill spider. Spiders are not bad, and whenever we get into spider season, I remind myself that they are useful predators, and for every one spider there are hundreds of prey--meaning insects who will otherwise be invading my home. So I leave the spiders alone outside and under the house, except when we vacuum the Underbelly about twice a year. But this kind of spider has THRICE appeared INSIDE our house in the past year!!! I try not to let the children see my fear.Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Um. . . how about a good BLT or barbeque pork sandwich instead? If I am eating meat, I go right for the bad stuff.
Favorite dog breed? The Good Old American Mutt. But I have been toying with the idea of a standard poodle for our next family dog, since they are supposed to be a good breed for people with allergies.
Favorite day of the week? Don't have one. Maybe Monday--it feels like a fresh start.
How many states have you lived in? 4. Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, California.
Diamonds or pearls? I wear both almost every day! (My favorite earrings are grey pearl drops--wearing them now!) London blue topaz, too--in my wedding band with the diamond.
What is your favorite flower? Wild chicory. Then come Blue Hydrangea and Love in a Mist (pictured).Did you get an H1N1 vaccine? No. Don't EVEN get me started.
And since that last question seemed like an odd one to end on, I'm adding two more:
What are you most thankful for at this moment? Every minute = another chance to parent the way I want to, with grace. That and organic dark chocolate with orange.
What is one goal you hope to meet today? To vacuum behind the dresser.
Allrighty sister friends and readers! Please join in the fun and post a comment--I'll randomly select a winner next Monday!
Monday, June 21, 2010
lament for a long favorite thing, now leaving me
Here is what I just posted on freecycle:
(And I don't normally blog on freecycle posts, or for that matter IN freecycle posts, but this one warranted it)
This one is sooooooo hard to give up. But it is time. So, here is the story:
The summer before my freshman year of high school, I worked as a babysitter to earn extra cash. I was the queen of babysitters--sometimes I would go from one job in the morning to one job in the afternoon to another job in the evening! And even though I was paid pittance (anyone else remember when one dollar an hour per child sat was considered good money?!), my hard work slowly added up, and at the end of the summer I had $300 to spend. And yes, I said spend--for I loved fashion but our family did not have enough money for me to get fancy label clothes like all the "cool" kids in jr. high. (Ah, youth.) So with my parents' blessing, I took the bus with my older sister up to Woodfield Mall, outside of Chicago. This was shopping heaven for a girl still new to that whole world. I spent my money carefully, chosing to get a few choice items rather than a whole bunch of stuff. I still remember them all! But the absolute best piece was a buttery soft, brown suede skirt from Banana Republic. Fitted waist, fully lined, falling just above the knee. It cost me $150--half of my earnings. Oh, but it was worth it--so beautiful to feel, to see. One of the most gorgeous pieces of leather I have ever felt--a skirt not made for a 14 year old girl, but a professional woman. Ahhhhhhhh.
Where was I? Oh, right. Fast forward 25 years (and four children!) and--surprise, surprise--the skirt no longer fits. I saved it for so long thinking one of my three daughters might like it someday, since it is so gorgeous and fairly timeless in style. Alas, the perpetually damp conditions here in Aptos has taken its toll on the leather, and I know I will not be able to save it any longer for a possible someday. It needs to be used and loved by somebody NOW before it is too late.
The skirt smells musty, and has lighter-colored spots everywhere. **I do not know if they will come out when professionally cleaned and brushed, but I have a feeling they will. But I cannot spend the $ to find out.
Is there anyone out there who can use this skirt? It is a size 4, and believe it or not, made in the USA! Ah, the good old days. . . I don't care if you even want to repurpose it--I just don't want it to end up on the floor at the Bargin Barn. I want this--a trophy of my youth--used and maybe even loved.
I decided to post it here too because it shows you all how brutal I am being in my decluttering these days. Also, because it demonstrates the early manifestations of what I was saying in my last post about inherently (thanks, Mom!) expensive taste--what other 14yrd old would spend half of her hard-earned babysitting money on one piece of amazing quality, rather than a handful of "awesome" outfits from The Limited? (This was 1985, remember.)
And lastly, I am posting this in the faint hopes that one of you, my virtual village, will want it. Because I would love to send it to you, if you do, no charge. Do you know of any crafty people who re-purpose leather? Let them know about this offer too. I just *can't* *stand* waste, and throwing this out seems like a phenomenal waste. . .
So, let me know!
(And I don't normally blog on freecycle posts, or for that matter IN freecycle posts, but this one warranted it)
This one is sooooooo hard to give up. But it is time. So, here is the story:
The summer before my freshman year of high school, I worked as a babysitter to earn extra cash. I was the queen of babysitters--sometimes I would go from one job in the morning to one job in the afternoon to another job in the evening! And even though I was paid pittance (anyone else remember when one dollar an hour per child sat was considered good money?!), my hard work slowly added up, and at the end of the summer I had $300 to spend. And yes, I said spend--for I loved fashion but our family did not have enough money for me to get fancy label clothes like all the "cool" kids in jr. high. (Ah, youth.) So with my parents' blessing, I took the bus with my older sister up to Woodfield Mall, outside of Chicago. This was shopping heaven for a girl still new to that whole world. I spent my money carefully, chosing to get a few choice items rather than a whole bunch of stuff. I still remember them all! But the absolute best piece was a buttery soft, brown suede skirt from Banana Republic. Fitted waist, fully lined, falling just above the knee. It cost me $150--half of my earnings. Oh, but it was worth it--so beautiful to feel, to see. One of the most gorgeous pieces of leather I have ever felt--a skirt not made for a 14 year old girl, but a professional woman. Ahhhhhhhh.
Where was I? Oh, right. Fast forward 25 years (and four children!) and--surprise, surprise--the skirt no longer fits. I saved it for so long thinking one of my three daughters might like it someday, since it is so gorgeous and fairly timeless in style. Alas, the perpetually damp conditions here in Aptos has taken its toll on the leather, and I know I will not be able to save it any longer for a possible someday. It needs to be used and loved by somebody NOW before it is too late.
The skirt smells musty, and has lighter-colored spots everywhere. **I do not know if they will come out when professionally cleaned and brushed, but I have a feeling they will. But I cannot spend the $ to find out.
Is there anyone out there who can use this skirt? It is a size 4, and believe it or not, made in the USA! Ah, the good old days. . . I don't care if you even want to repurpose it--I just don't want it to end up on the floor at the Bargin Barn. I want this--a trophy of my youth--used and maybe even loved.
I decided to post it here too because it shows you all how brutal I am being in my decluttering these days. Also, because it demonstrates the early manifestations of what I was saying in my last post about inherently (thanks, Mom!) expensive taste--what other 14yrd old would spend half of her hard-earned babysitting money on one piece of amazing quality, rather than a handful of "awesome" outfits from The Limited? (This was 1985, remember.)
And lastly, I am posting this in the faint hopes that one of you, my virtual village, will want it. Because I would love to send it to you, if you do, no charge. Do you know of any crafty people who re-purpose leather? Let them know about this offer too. I just *can't* *stand* waste, and throwing this out seems like a phenomenal waste. . .
So, let me know!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
speaking of free stuff and fun stuff. . .
Several of the blogs I read are having giveaways this week, but these two made me smile, so of course I am sharing them with you!
The first is over at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly, where you can win one of two works of art, by the artist featured above, one for your wall, one for your neck! I just love the colors the artist uses in her work, and when I realized she incorporates bits of her faith into her art, well, that turns beauty into blessing.
The second is over at Paisley and Lace, where my friend Tina is offering a chance to win one of two absolutely adorable aprons she made out of vintage fabric. Just look at one of them:
A cup of strong black tea with milk and a bit of something sweet.
A really good, old book borrowed from a really good, not so old friend (I'm reading I Capture the Castle, Rosa!)
A handmade apron of vintage fabric.
These are a few of my favorite things.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
fun stuff, free stuff!
This is going to be a post about almost nothing important. I just had some fun, surprising freebies in the past few days that I thought some of you, esp. my frugal/fit minded blog friends, would enjoy hearing about!
*Saturday I went to get my hair cut at the local cheapo place, maybe a Cost Cutters--can you tell I don't care?! Hey, when all you need is your bangs cut straight across and your ends trimmed, it is so not worth paying salon prices. But it had been so long since I had my hair/bangs cut--Thanksgiving? Seriously, those bangs were ok for quite a while, since I just wear them differently depending upon how long they get--but they stopped looking fine about two weeks ago, and did nothing but hang in my face. So it was about time! Imagine my pleased surprise to walk in and find they were having a special that day, so a normally $15 trim only cost $8.00! Whoo hoo! I could tip the stylist generously and still walk out ahead.
*Then after the haircut I tried to go to the mall across the street--hey, I was without children!--to look for some new pajama bottoms (my old ones were a gift from when Sunny was born, and they are wearing thin and hang like old man pants. So not fun to wear, and now part of the Great Purge!). Unfortunately, I was reminded of the many reasons why I so, so do not like malls, and ended up with nothing to show for my hour there except low blood sugar and light-headedness from all the formaldehyde in the air. So I stopped for a chai at the nearby Starbucks, since I still needed to stop for grocceries on the way home, and needed sustenance. I ordered my usual--grande, two pump, no water, nonfat chai in my very own stainless to-go cup, thank you very much--and for a special treat also selected a really yummy dark chocolate brownie. But a moment later I overheard the woman making the drink ask the cashier who had taken my order about the written instructions:"Is this a 2? I thought it was an 8!"
An EIGHT pump chai? I was going into a sugar coma just thinking about it. But I hate waste, so I told them not to dump it out, but just give it to me and I would take it home and add (like a gallon!) more milk. The woman was apologetic, and not only then gave me some plain steamed milk to have with my brownie (which goes much better, actually!) and a glass of water, but also gave me a coupon for a free drink next time I come in, to make up for the mistake!
So not only have I been having like two big chais a day here at home since then (and my travel mug is still half full!!!), but I have another free drink whenever I want one!
Which, honestly, will not be for a looooooong time. There can be too much of a good thing, I am learning. ; )
But still, whoo-hoo!
*Then yesterday we had a fun day out, me and the kids and my dear Becky and her kids--meeting up to go see the just released "Babies" in the theatre. It was the first movie my children had ever seen in a theatre, and they loved it, even Smiley! He stood on my lap and watched mesmerized for a great deal of the movie--and when it no longer had his full interest, my assortment of carefully doled out snacks and then nursing kept him good until right before the credits, when he finally decided he had been sitting long enough. Perfect! It was a very good film, accessible to the kids on one level, to the discerning adult on other levels--I recommend it.
Afterwards my little troop headed a few blocks down from the theatre to get bagels, and I was surprised to see such a low selection of bagels, until the guys behind the counter pointed out that, it being 4:50, they were closing in ten minutes. Ah. (I don't get out much.) But because of that, and probably because they felt sorry for me for having so many kids, and because they heard my kids excitedly asking about all the food for sale, they stuck in about 5 extra bagels and some cinnamon/sugar bagel bite things. For free!
Whoo-hoo!
*And then afterwards I took Sunny and Merry to their Korean Martial Arts class, and DH gave up his own participation (he started taking classes there about two months ago, when he started carpooling. By carpooling he has to go to work earlier, but then gets home in time for the 6:00 class, and he is paying for the class with the money he has saved on gas--win win!) so that I could take advantage of the "Moms train free in May" promotion going on this month, and join the cardio kick boxing class.
Yes. I spent an hour doing cardio-kickboxing. And there were two good things about it:
1) it was free
2) I was not as out of shape as I had thought!
Way back, two children ago, I took a cardio kick-boxing class for a month, and really liked it. It was a killer for the first two weeks, but then you get used to it and it is fun and makes you feel really, really good. And DH said I got a butt. Which I guess is a good thing in this case. But one day while in the class I got so lightheaded and weak I started to pass out and had to go outside for fresh air and then was so shaky I drove immediately over to some deli and wolfed down a huge meat sandwich and a big orange juice.
Which was how I found out I was pregnant with Happy.
And which was my first experience with low blood sugar. (Oh, the days before the daily psychosis of blood sugar issues!)
And which was why I quit kick-boxing.
SO anyway, last night I was completely shocked that it all came back immediately, and I was not at all pushing myself, but was keeping up and only had to take a few ten-second breathers here and there. I felt like I belonged there, not like some pathetic, out-of-shape mom who is about to die. Hmmm, ok, well maybe that is what I looked like, but it is not what I felt like, and that is what counts.
So, WHOO-HOO!
Such little things, but they still brightened my days. : )
*Saturday I went to get my hair cut at the local cheapo place, maybe a Cost Cutters--can you tell I don't care?! Hey, when all you need is your bangs cut straight across and your ends trimmed, it is so not worth paying salon prices. But it had been so long since I had my hair/bangs cut--Thanksgiving? Seriously, those bangs were ok for quite a while, since I just wear them differently depending upon how long they get--but they stopped looking fine about two weeks ago, and did nothing but hang in my face. So it was about time! Imagine my pleased surprise to walk in and find they were having a special that day, so a normally $15 trim only cost $8.00! Whoo hoo! I could tip the stylist generously and still walk out ahead.
*Then after the haircut I tried to go to the mall across the street--hey, I was without children!--to look for some new pajama bottoms (my old ones were a gift from when Sunny was born, and they are wearing thin and hang like old man pants. So not fun to wear, and now part of the Great Purge!). Unfortunately, I was reminded of the many reasons why I so, so do not like malls, and ended up with nothing to show for my hour there except low blood sugar and light-headedness from all the formaldehyde in the air. So I stopped for a chai at the nearby Starbucks, since I still needed to stop for grocceries on the way home, and needed sustenance. I ordered my usual--grande, two pump, no water, nonfat chai in my very own stainless to-go cup, thank you very much--and for a special treat also selected a really yummy dark chocolate brownie. But a moment later I overheard the woman making the drink ask the cashier who had taken my order about the written instructions:"Is this a 2? I thought it was an 8!"
An EIGHT pump chai? I was going into a sugar coma just thinking about it. But I hate waste, so I told them not to dump it out, but just give it to me and I would take it home and add (like a gallon!) more milk. The woman was apologetic, and not only then gave me some plain steamed milk to have with my brownie (which goes much better, actually!) and a glass of water, but also gave me a coupon for a free drink next time I come in, to make up for the mistake!
So not only have I been having like two big chais a day here at home since then (and my travel mug is still half full!!!), but I have another free drink whenever I want one!
Which, honestly, will not be for a looooooong time. There can be too much of a good thing, I am learning. ; )
But still, whoo-hoo!
*Then yesterday we had a fun day out, me and the kids and my dear Becky and her kids--meeting up to go see the just released "Babies" in the theatre. It was the first movie my children had ever seen in a theatre, and they loved it, even Smiley! He stood on my lap and watched mesmerized for a great deal of the movie--and when it no longer had his full interest, my assortment of carefully doled out snacks and then nursing kept him good until right before the credits, when he finally decided he had been sitting long enough. Perfect! It was a very good film, accessible to the kids on one level, to the discerning adult on other levels--I recommend it.
Afterwards my little troop headed a few blocks down from the theatre to get bagels, and I was surprised to see such a low selection of bagels, until the guys behind the counter pointed out that, it being 4:50, they were closing in ten minutes. Ah. (I don't get out much.) But because of that, and probably because they felt sorry for me for having so many kids, and because they heard my kids excitedly asking about all the food for sale, they stuck in about 5 extra bagels and some cinnamon/sugar bagel bite things. For free!
Whoo-hoo!
*And then afterwards I took Sunny and Merry to their Korean Martial Arts class, and DH gave up his own participation (he started taking classes there about two months ago, when he started carpooling. By carpooling he has to go to work earlier, but then gets home in time for the 6:00 class, and he is paying for the class with the money he has saved on gas--win win!) so that I could take advantage of the "Moms train free in May" promotion going on this month, and join the cardio kick boxing class.
Yes. I spent an hour doing cardio-kickboxing. And there were two good things about it:
1) it was free
2) I was not as out of shape as I had thought!
Way back, two children ago, I took a cardio kick-boxing class for a month, and really liked it. It was a killer for the first two weeks, but then you get used to it and it is fun and makes you feel really, really good. And DH said I got a butt. Which I guess is a good thing in this case. But one day while in the class I got so lightheaded and weak I started to pass out and had to go outside for fresh air and then was so shaky I drove immediately over to some deli and wolfed down a huge meat sandwich and a big orange juice.
Which was how I found out I was pregnant with Happy.
And which was my first experience with low blood sugar. (Oh, the days before the daily psychosis of blood sugar issues!)
And which was why I quit kick-boxing.
SO anyway, last night I was completely shocked that it all came back immediately, and I was not at all pushing myself, but was keeping up and only had to take a few ten-second breathers here and there. I felt like I belonged there, not like some pathetic, out-of-shape mom who is about to die. Hmmm, ok, well maybe that is what I looked like, but it is not what I felt like, and that is what counts.
So, WHOO-HOO!
Such little things, but they still brightened my days. : )
Monday, April 5, 2010
He is Risen!
Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?
The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him.
He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn't say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he'd never hurt a soul
or said one word that wasn't true.
Still, it's what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
And God's plan will deeply prosper through him.
Out of that terrible travail of soul,
he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
will make many "righteous ones,"
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.
Isaiah Chapter 53, in The Message
The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him.
He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn't say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he'd never hurt a soul
or said one word that wasn't true.
Still, it's what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
And God's plan will deeply prosper through him.
Out of that terrible travail of soul,
he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
will make many "righteous ones,"
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.
Isaiah Chapter 53, in The Message
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
#2
When I was getting ready to send the prizes from my bloggiversary (hey, I just noticed "give/giver" in the middle of that made-up word! Perfect!), I happened to see Mary at Owlhaven's post about upcycled mailing envelopes. That was just the right touch for packaging these little gifts--pretty, green, frugal, and slightly crafty. I save gift bags for regifting, and so had a nice selection to choose from--and as you can see, came up with some pretty girly (but not necessarily little girly) designs.I'm not sure mine turned out as well as Mary's did. The big pink one with white flower was the first I tried, and if you fold the top of the bag under (where the holes for the carrying strings are) then you end up with a square envelope--was barely the right size for what I was mailing. So then for the next one, with the girl and dogs, I just left the string holes visible (I couldn't decapitate the poor girl by turning the top edges under!) and put clear packing tape over them. The last one--the iridescent pink!--I had to take apart to fit the book into. If you don't start out with a big enough envelope, then you have to undo the flaps that make up the bottom of the bag, and then that leaves big creases on your "envelope." So I think mine looked a little more makeshift than they would have otherwise. . . But still, the packaging fits the values and ideas in this blog, esp. being less than perfect! ; )
And the post office lady did not bat an eye when I handed them over, including the one going all the way to England.
Rebecca, Carrie, Nydia, let me know if they arrive safely!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
We have Winners!
Well, this has been an amazingly fun blogging week for me.FIRST it was a blast to get real dialogue going here on this blog! Ok, I know it won't last, and now that my Bloggiversary week is through, you will all mostly fade away into readers-but-not-posters again. Don't worry, I understand--that is what I am too, most of the time. I read quite a few blogs while breakfasting or nursing, but don't get much blog time with both hands free to type, so I don't leave comments often. But I hope that now you have tested the water, so to speak, and hopefully found it comfortable, you will not hesitate to jump on in whenever you feel like it!
SECOND I just won a prize myself! Atheist Mama also had her first giveaway this week, although being a real blog, she actually got a company to send her products for the giveaway--
THIRD I get to give stuff away now too! Ok, ok, my prizes were things I chose because 1) they are awesome (as long as you are not particular about things being, um, new); 2) they seemed to fit the "feel" of my blog; and 3) I thought you all might like them!
SO! Here are the three winners, chosen randomly. I did not employ any special online random number generator, just in case you are again confusing this with a real blog. I asked each of my girls to choose a number between 1 and 24 (there being 24 comments to the "party" post). And I have the video to verify the complete randomness of their choices, if you want to see it. ; )
Sunny came up with. . . Number 10! Yay, that's Rebecca, my big sis! See, aren't you glad you started reading my blog--and most importantly, ocassionally leaving comments. ; ) And your husband Chris wins too, as he was the only male with the unmitigated temerity to leave a comment. (Ok, I don't really mean to suggest it was at all foolish of you to post a comment--I am thrilled you did!--I have just wanted to use that phrase ever since college, when I was in To Kill a Mockingbird)
Merry thought long and hard and said. . . Number 20! Carrie, all the way over in England, that's you! So glad you de-lurked this week, and I am happy to send your prize over the water!
Happy paused and paused, and then listened to the whisperings of her biggest sister, and called out. . . Number 8! That would be the blogger known as "Zerohousepaymentsforever!" I am so glad I can send a little lovin' to a fellow mama. : )
So, my three winners, please send me an email this week to let me know two things:
a) your mailing address, and
b) the prize you would like best, and the prize you would like second best.
Rebecca, I know where to find you. ; ) You can all email me at blesseday at gmail dot com.
Thank you, one and all, for the smiles you brought me this week! I wish you many happy returns. : )
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Readers and Lurkers: Come to my Party and win a Prize!
Images from Alice in Wonderland, by the wonderful artist Scott GustafsonToday is the one year anniversary of this blog. It has been a really fast year! Thank you, all of you who keep coming back to see what's going on with me and my family, who encourage me in my efforts to stir up the sludge in my brain to think through and write about things. I appreciate you!
So let's have a party! (this is your cue to get up and get a cup of your favorite beverage and a treat. make it something decadent--after all, this is a party. Really. Go ahead--I'll wait. ; )
So let's have a party! (this is your cue to get up and get a cup of your favorite beverage and a treat. make it something decadent--after all, this is a party. Really. Go ahead--I'll wait. ; )
Ok, you got your party food, time for an ice-breaker! So here is your party task: please take a moment to leave a comment to this post, just quickly introducing yourself and saying where you live and how you are connected to me/this blog and what food you brought to the party! (I can't wait to see who comes. I hope someone brings dark chocolate. Mmmmmmmmmm.)
Great! Thanks for introducing yourself. And now, your party prize! In honor of my "bloggiversary" and to say thank you to all of you, I am having my first ever Give Away! The ice-breaker comment you posted was your entry ticket to the give away, so you are now eligible to win one of THREE awesome prizes:
1) A hardback copy of "Cold Tangerines" by Shauna Niequist (previously read by me! ; )
2) A cool bookmark embedded with poppy seeds; when you are done using it as a bookmark, you can actually plant it and raise your very own California golden poppies! (the state flower, in case you did not know)
3) Some really good tea! I can't send a whole package of tea, but I can send you a sample of one of my favorite Mariage Frères teas!
This is also the first day of Anti-Lurking Week! So anyone who has been dropping by to read but has never left a comment--now you have LOTS of reasons to leave a comment! Please do so, and welcome to the party! I'll randomly chose winners on Weds of next week. : )
Friday, January 15, 2010
give a little help to Haiti--for free!
Okay, my dear readers, here is one more blog stop I highly recommend (ok, beg) you put on your list today:
The lovely owner of the blog Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is having a "giveaway" today; two lucky winners will each get to pick a charity working in Haiti to receive $500.00. AND she will donate 10 cents to relief work in Haiti for every comment left to that blog post! Ten cents might not seem like a lot, but it will sure add up if everyone who hears about it takes a moment to jump over and comment. So please take a moment to leave your "ten cents worth"!
The lovely owner of the blog Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is having a "giveaway" today; two lucky winners will each get to pick a charity working in Haiti to receive $500.00. AND she will donate 10 cents to relief work in Haiti for every comment left to that blog post! Ten cents might not seem like a lot, but it will sure add up if everyone who hears about it takes a moment to jump over and comment. So please take a moment to leave your "ten cents worth"!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
FRIDAY ONLY--still could win $100!
Okay, I realize this is a long shot, but I just heard about this giveaway from Tom's of Maine going on over at Owlhaven (which is also linked on the right hand sidebar). If you see this email and want to try, you have until Friday at midnight (I assume!) to enter to win a $100 Visa gift card.
Here's hoping some of you see this!
P.S. I am still working on part 2 of my "bedtime stories" post--just need more time to blog! ; )
Here's hoping some of you see this!
P.S. I am still working on part 2 of my "bedtime stories" post--just need more time to blog! ; )
Monday, December 28, 2009
Auf Wiedersehen, O Tannenbaum
When I was a girl, our family Christmas tree always came from a large country tree farm; Thanksgiving weekend we would all pile into the old Suburban and drive out to a snowy conifer "forest"--at least the closest thing to one in the flat farmlands of central Illinois. We would tromp around through the trees--probably in circles--until we found the "perfect" one, and after Dad cut it down and secured it to the top of the Suburban we would sing Christmas carols acapella all the way home.
When I was a young married, D and I would go with his parents to get our Christmas tree from the forest around Colorado Springs. Anyone can purchase a permit for cutting down a tree in the National forest around Pikes Peak, so for $10 we could get a beautiful 8 or 9 foot blue spruce, our favorite. To find the "perfect" tree we hiked through the forest for hours, so long that my toes would be numb from cold and we were all ready to drop from hunger. Luckily D's mom, who is a stickler for doing things "right," always had thermoses of still-hot cocoa for us and snacks to tide us over while D and his dad secured the trees on top of their van.
When we moved to CA, we had to find a new tradition. Fortunately, we live near the Santa Cruz "Mountains" (how could I not use quotation marks after just talking about cutting down our Christmas tree previously in the Colorado Rockies?!) and we found the cutest tree farm up there near the summit, where we hike around on the tree-covered hills looking for that "perfect" tree, albeit no longer in snow but often in 60 degree sunshine. The farm even has a hot cocoa station, charming little wooden play cottages, and Boy Scouts to cut down the tree for you. So that has been a fun and special new tradition for getting our family Christmas tree.
Last year's tree-hunting excursion with our good friends the Rosas, and the Santa Cruz Mountains spread out behind us. This was the first year it was really cold! Maybe in the upper 40's with a biting wind--for us Californians, that's COLD!
The finished tree in the living room, nestled where our antique bench normally lives. We realized the week before Christmas that, um, it would have been a good idea to give our tree some water.
Because our mantel is tucked away under the house while we work on the fireplace surround, we hung the stockings up higher. This also kept them nicely visible on the days when I have cloth diapers or other laundry drying on the line above the fireplace. Which is actually most days.
These fuzzy and off-color photos are not impressive. Neither is our tiny house, most of which is under renovation of some kind. But esp. the last photo still makes me smile; I had such a hard time getting my heart in tune to the spirit of Christmas this year, and that night--only a few days before Christmas--when the living room was finally bedecked and the stockings were hung "by the chimney with care," I found myself singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . !" I was happy. At peace. Eager for what Christmas Day would bring.
I would never have imagined how much that funny, makeshift tree would lift my spirits and help me prepare my heart for Christmas.
Now the tree is down, the decorations are put away, but the good Christmas feeling is lingering. May it linger in your heart too, as a beautiful, encouraging start to the new year!
When I was a young married, D and I would go with his parents to get our Christmas tree from the forest around Colorado Springs. Anyone can purchase a permit for cutting down a tree in the National forest around Pikes Peak, so for $10 we could get a beautiful 8 or 9 foot blue spruce, our favorite. To find the "perfect" tree we hiked through the forest for hours, so long that my toes would be numb from cold and we were all ready to drop from hunger. Luckily D's mom, who is a stickler for doing things "right," always had thermoses of still-hot cocoa for us and snacks to tide us over while D and his dad secured the trees on top of their van.
When we moved to CA, we had to find a new tradition. Fortunately, we live near the Santa Cruz "Mountains" (how could I not use quotation marks after just talking about cutting down our Christmas tree previously in the Colorado Rockies?!) and we found the cutest tree farm up there near the summit, where we hike around on the tree-covered hills looking for that "perfect" tree, albeit no longer in snow but often in 60 degree sunshine. The farm even has a hot cocoa station, charming little wooden play cottages, and Boy Scouts to cut down the tree for you. So that has been a fun and special new tradition for getting our family Christmas tree.
Last year's tree-hunting excursion with our good friends the Rosas, and the Santa Cruz Mountains spread out behind us. This was the first year it was really cold! Maybe in the upper 40's with a biting wind--for us Californians, that's COLD!
This year, in the spirit of frugality and resourcefulness, we decided not to go cut down a tree, which costs at least $50. This year our Christmas tree came from our own backyard! We have small redwood suckers growing up all over the backyard, so at my request, D cut down three of them that were roughly the same size and bound the trunks together. We ended up with a Christmas tree of, uh, un-traditional shape--but with lots of special meaning. In fact, D said it was probably his favorite of all the Christmas trees we have ever had. I especially liked the fact that most of the branches began higher than little E's reach, so we were not having to worry so much about him reaching ornaments.
None of the photos turned out all that great, since I was always shooting at night when the light is not good, but they give you the idea of what may be our new favorite Christmas tree tradition!
D on the back deck with the first redwood sucker cutting, which he offered up as our Christmas tree. I had not laughed so hard in a long time. As you can see, it needed trimming and some more branches, which is why we had the idea of binding three cuttings together.
The finished tree in the living room, nestled where our antique bench normally lives. We realized the week before Christmas that, um, it would have been a good idea to give our tree some water.
Because our mantel is tucked away under the house while we work on the fireplace surround, we hung the stockings up higher. This also kept them nicely visible on the days when I have cloth diapers or other laundry drying on the line above the fireplace. Which is actually most days. These fuzzy and off-color photos are not impressive. Neither is our tiny house, most of which is under renovation of some kind. But esp. the last photo still makes me smile; I had such a hard time getting my heart in tune to the spirit of Christmas this year, and that night--only a few days before Christmas--when the living room was finally bedecked and the stockings were hung "by the chimney with care," I found myself singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . !" I was happy. At peace. Eager for what Christmas Day would bring.
I would never have imagined how much that funny, makeshift tree would lift my spirits and help me prepare my heart for Christmas.
Now the tree is down, the decorations are put away, but the good Christmas feeling is lingering. May it linger in your heart too, as a beautiful, encouraging start to the new year!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
One of our favorite, free Christmas traditions
When I was a little girl, my parents started a simple, but very meaningful tradition to take place all through the Advent season. Dad built a wooden manger, about 9 inches long and 6 inches high. He just used old 3/4 inch thick scrap wood, and stained it dark brown. Mother bought fat yellow yarn and cut it up into 6 inch lengths. They put the yarn into an old coffeecan and placed it and the manger under the Christmas tree. Each time someone in the family did something loving for someone else, he or she could then take one of the pieces of yarn "straw" and put it in the manger. The goal was to have a soft, welcoming bed for baby Jesus by Christmas Eve.Each Sunday of Advent we would draw a family member's name from the hat, and that is who we would focus our acts of love on for the week. So I remember having my little sister Allison's name, and doing things like setting the dinner table for her when it was her turn, playing with her (when I would not have otherwise), or letting her use my favorite toys. Each time I did something loving, I got to put another piece of "straw" into the manger--and we all did the acts without announcing them, and tried to slip in the straw when no one else was in the room, to keep the game a little secretive (and more selfless, now that I think about it).
Every Christmas Eve we would have a full manger, so ready and inviting, symbolizing our excited anticipation of Christmas morning. But the best part, of course, was practicing choosing to love one another in tangible ways throughout the Advent season.
A few years back when I was visiting my folks in IL and helping sort the
So each year we get out the manger and "straw" (except I really need some new yarn--I could only find regular weight yarn the first year, but it takes SO many more loving deeds to fill up the manger! And the fat yarn just looks so much softer, like you might really lay a baby on it. : ) and start looking for tangible ways to love on one another. We don't draw names like my parents did, so anyone can do anything loving for anyone else in the family and get to put a straw in. (With little ones you have to guide a bit until they understand the concepts, encouraging them to put in a straw when you witness them sharing a toy with a sibling, or when they give someone else the first turn. Let them put in a straw anytime they give a hug or kiss or say "I love you!")
I love seeing the children thinking about how to put love into action. I love having an Advent focus that involves the whole family, keeps our focus on what really matters during the holiday season, and builds our familial ties.
The thing I love about it most, though, is the beautiful allegory of how we can actively prepare our hearts to receive Christ anew each Christmas season. We can choose to keep our hearts full of love, soft and ready to receive whatever God has in store for us. We can choose to keep our eyes open for opportunities to love others tangibly, just as God gave the world the tangible sign of His love through the gift of the baby Jesus. We can choose to view our families and loved ones as outlets for lovin', instead of focusing on what we want to be receiving from them. We can choose to focus on love and joy and peace and forgiveness and goodwill.
And there is always the hope that practicing these choices during the Advent season will help us keep our hearts soft and ready the rest of the year as well!
No photo of our manger yet--we have not yet gotten out the Christmas decorations, so I am running behind! I'll add one when we unearth everything, hopefully this weekend. : ) By the way, starting to fill the manger late in the Advent season makes it harder to get it soft and cozy by Christmas Eve, so I encourage either using a small manger or starting at the beginning of the Advent season.
And for those of you wondering, I am trying a new thing called a "Blog Hop," where blogs can write on the same topic and you can "hop" from blog to blog to read everyone's ideas on the same topic. They were having the blog hop on topics I was already going to write about, so I thought I would join in. Could be fun! So if you are interested in seeing other people's Christmas traditions, click on the MckLinky link above, and it should take you to the list. . . if all works well my first time trying this!
A cute and cozy give-away contest!
Once more, my blog bunny trail has led me to something fun: really cute quilts you could enter to win! Here is one of the quilts you could win:
The winner gets to chose one of two quilts, each with a different pattern. If you are interested, please visit the marie-madeline studio and enter! You can get there by either clicking on the link in the previous sentence, or clicking on the button on my right sidebar.
The winner gets to chose one of two quilts, each with a different pattern. If you are interested, please visit the marie-madeline studio and enter! You can get there by either clicking on the link in the previous sentence, or clicking on the button on my right sidebar.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Blessing of the Week: pajamas!
more GOOD!
When I blogged a while back about all the household things that suffered corruption caused by the cold and damp while we were gone on our month-long roadtrip, I mentioned a baby playgym that mildewed. E had just recently lost interest in it, and so I had not yet moved it from its "home" between the pac-n-play and the end of our bed, and it must have slid down on the floor while we were gone and trapped dust and moisture between the fabric and the hardwood floor, so that we returned to find it covered in little black spots. And of course with mildew, even after you wash and bleach it, it is clean but still ugly. So sad! But it was saved from the landfill by the amazing community resource that is Freecycle, and so a young mom met me at the nearby Startbucks parking lot one day to pick it up for her own baby girl. As I was giving this perfect stranger the playgym and its accessories, we chatted a bit, and I must have mentioned that my baby was a boy. Because she asked, out of the blue, "Hey, do you want any boy pajamas? Because I have a bag right here that I was going to offer on freecycle, but if you want them you can have them." I honestly did not think I needed them, because we have been blessed with so many hand-me-downs from D's cousins, who all had boys, but I took them because 1) D and I have made it a kind of life-rule to be thankful and accept whatever people want to give us--making sure it is truly a gift and not a loan--and because 2) why not? I did not even know what age her boy was, but thought I could always just look and see if any of it was useful and then pass along whatever was not.
But this exchange happened in the brief time we were home between our two summer roadtrips, and I did not take the time to look in the half-full black garbage bag she gave me, but just tossed it on top of the washing machine under the house to deal with later. So fast forward to this week. The house is getting chillier at night this week, and so I was wanting to put warmer pjs on baby E--but for a while now have only had one sleeper and one pair of pajamas and one warm oversleeper, all of which were size 12 mo but were getting too short for him to wear comfortably. I have been assuming our lack of sleepwear is because we have boxes of 12-18 mo size baby clothes from D's cousins awaiting us up at his parent's house in Chico--but with the wedding reception hubub and D's illness when we were there last, I totally forgot to bring them home with us. I assume we will be seeing his parents sometime this fall, when all our lives have settled back down a bit, but until then I figured I would be dressing him in soft daytime clothes and hoodies for bedtime--which is completely fine, it just means his wardrobe ends up more limited for daytime.
Two days ago, as I was continuing "habitat restoration"--as my friend Alberta calls it--I decided to open up that black garbage bag and deal with the contents. And by now you have guessed what was inside--sleepers and fleece oversleepers for a boy ages 12-18 months. And the 12 months sleepers are longer than the ones we have, so are perfect.
It seems like such a little thing, but it is such a big blessing, and most importantly, it feels like a warm hug from Someone who cared enough to once again meet my need before I even knew I had it. Some would call this coincidence, but for me it is too much of a coincidence to be so--it perfectly lines up with my understanding of the character of a loving, present God. This has happened too many times in my life for me to shrug it off--I can only be amazed that the creator of the universe cares about me and my family in such a personal way.
When I blogged a while back about all the household things that suffered corruption caused by the cold and damp while we were gone on our month-long roadtrip, I mentioned a baby playgym that mildewed. E had just recently lost interest in it, and so I had not yet moved it from its "home" between the pac-n-play and the end of our bed, and it must have slid down on the floor while we were gone and trapped dust and moisture between the fabric and the hardwood floor, so that we returned to find it covered in little black spots. And of course with mildew, even after you wash and bleach it, it is clean but still ugly. So sad! But it was saved from the landfill by the amazing community resource that is Freecycle, and so a young mom met me at the nearby Startbucks parking lot one day to pick it up for her own baby girl. As I was giving this perfect stranger the playgym and its accessories, we chatted a bit, and I must have mentioned that my baby was a boy. Because she asked, out of the blue, "Hey, do you want any boy pajamas? Because I have a bag right here that I was going to offer on freecycle, but if you want them you can have them." I honestly did not think I needed them, because we have been blessed with so many hand-me-downs from D's cousins, who all had boys, but I took them because 1) D and I have made it a kind of life-rule to be thankful and accept whatever people want to give us--making sure it is truly a gift and not a loan--and because 2) why not? I did not even know what age her boy was, but thought I could always just look and see if any of it was useful and then pass along whatever was not.
But this exchange happened in the brief time we were home between our two summer roadtrips, and I did not take the time to look in the half-full black garbage bag she gave me, but just tossed it on top of the washing machine under the house to deal with later. So fast forward to this week. The house is getting chillier at night this week, and so I was wanting to put warmer pjs on baby E--but for a while now have only had one sleeper and one pair of pajamas and one warm oversleeper, all of which were size 12 mo but were getting too short for him to wear comfortably. I have been assuming our lack of sleepwear is because we have boxes of 12-18 mo size baby clothes from D's cousins awaiting us up at his parent's house in Chico--but with the wedding reception hubub and D's illness when we were there last, I totally forgot to bring them home with us. I assume we will be seeing his parents sometime this fall, when all our lives have settled back down a bit, but until then I figured I would be dressing him in soft daytime clothes and hoodies for bedtime--which is completely fine, it just means his wardrobe ends up more limited for daytime.
Two days ago, as I was continuing "habitat restoration"--as my friend Alberta calls it--I decided to open up that black garbage bag and deal with the contents. And by now you have guessed what was inside--sleepers and fleece oversleepers for a boy ages 12-18 months. And the 12 months sleepers are longer than the ones we have, so are perfect.
It seems like such a little thing, but it is such a big blessing, and most importantly, it feels like a warm hug from Someone who cared enough to once again meet my need before I even knew I had it. Some would call this coincidence, but for me it is too much of a coincidence to be so--it perfectly lines up with my understanding of the character of a loving, present God. This has happened too many times in my life for me to shrug it off--I can only be amazed that the creator of the universe cares about me and my family in such a personal way.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Its outta here!
I have so many things I am supposed to be doing today, so I may not get to post much, even though I have been itching to share a few things--some nonscensical, some philosophical, none all that important. : ) But one of the things I am doing this weekend is FINALLY getting out bags and boxes of STUFF I have been sorting through and purging whatever I can (and whatever D will let me release to the greater world). Some of it will go to Goodwill, some are returns to ship back, some I will deliver to the doors of strangers. Yep, for those of you who have not heard me sing the praises of Freecycle, this posting is for you. Freecycle is an international grass-roots movement committed to recycling/reusing that uses local groups of like-minded people to keep stuff out of landfills and save people from buying stuff if they don't have to. You sign up at the yahoo user group freecycle.org, and get on their email listing for your area. You will receive notice via email when there is stuff free for the taking, and you can post things that you have that you don't want anymore.
The only rules are that everyone should offer something at least once, and to be courteous to everyone else. Whatever is listed should be legal, appropriate for anyone, and completely FREE.
FREECYCLE is AWESOME! Every person should belong to a group--seriously. Here are some of the things we have been blessed with:
--the loan of an amazing (expensive) wood and metal European folding booster seat. We got it on loan from a complete stranger when B needed it, and we just recently contacted the people to see if they need it back or if we can keep using it for E!
--the loan of a pop-up camper for 2 months! Again, perfect strangers--the loveliest people!--up in the Santa Cruz mountains not only loaned us this excellent little camper so all our parents would have a place to stay when they came to visit around the time of E's birth, but they brought it to us and took it back home again!
--a rosewood Chinese abacus! this one has a cool story: i posted that i wanted an abacus and a lady responded back that she had a lovely one she bought for her accountant father years back. He had just recently passed away and she had sorted out a bunch of stuff to donate to Goodwill, but then she could not bear to put the abacus into the load because she wanted to give it to someone who she knew would appreciate it. not one week later she saw our posting and was so happy to give it to us!
--a barley-filled hot/cold neck pillow for a recurring neck injury
--a pair of crutches when I fell and hurt my knee.
--furniture for international students
The list goes on and on. And it is all FREE!
And here are some of the things I have blessed strangers with:
--two, count em,' two french press parts after D broke the glass carafes
--child clothes that we did not need that had small stains or holes and I could not give to Goodwill
--broken toys
--broken appliances
--old computer parts
--foodstuffs that had been given to us that we could not use
All the time people throw stuff away that someone might actually want--it just takes a few minutes to make a posting and find out if someone wants what you don't!
So there you go, my little freecycle sermon. Please check it out! : )
P.S. You don't have to deliver stuff to people on freecycle--but it is the sure-fire way to get it out of your house ASAP. And since my in-laws are coming this weekend. . .
The only rules are that everyone should offer something at least once, and to be courteous to everyone else. Whatever is listed should be legal, appropriate for anyone, and completely FREE.
FREECYCLE is AWESOME! Every person should belong to a group--seriously. Here are some of the things we have been blessed with:
--the loan of an amazing (expensive) wood and metal European folding booster seat. We got it on loan from a complete stranger when B needed it, and we just recently contacted the people to see if they need it back or if we can keep using it for E!
--the loan of a pop-up camper for 2 months! Again, perfect strangers--the loveliest people!--up in the Santa Cruz mountains not only loaned us this excellent little camper so all our parents would have a place to stay when they came to visit around the time of E's birth, but they brought it to us and took it back home again!
--a rosewood Chinese abacus! this one has a cool story: i posted that i wanted an abacus and a lady responded back that she had a lovely one she bought for her accountant father years back. He had just recently passed away and she had sorted out a bunch of stuff to donate to Goodwill, but then she could not bear to put the abacus into the load because she wanted to give it to someone who she knew would appreciate it. not one week later she saw our posting and was so happy to give it to us!
--a barley-filled hot/cold neck pillow for a recurring neck injury
--a pair of crutches when I fell and hurt my knee.
--furniture for international students
The list goes on and on. And it is all FREE!
And here are some of the things I have blessed strangers with:
--two, count em,' two french press parts after D broke the glass carafes
--child clothes that we did not need that had small stains or holes and I could not give to Goodwill
--broken toys
--broken appliances
--old computer parts
--foodstuffs that had been given to us that we could not use
All the time people throw stuff away that someone might actually want--it just takes a few minutes to make a posting and find out if someone wants what you don't!
So there you go, my little freecycle sermon. Please check it out! : )
P.S. You don't have to deliver stuff to people on freecycle--but it is the sure-fire way to get it out of your house ASAP. And since my in-laws are coming this weekend. . .
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