Moving Forward

As I continue working on the patterns I desperately want to upload here and share, the crazy of life continues.

The last month in our household has proved trying as many changes have taken place. We're adjusting to changing schedules, misfortunes, blessings and dealing with cleanup from previous rain storms.

But nothing as devastating as the tornado that tore through Joplin. Their needs and survival have overtaken everyone's thoughts and prayers. Merely comprehending it overwhelms the creativity waiting to happen. It turns my need to write patterns back to graphic designing for the many benefits and relief funds started to help those in need.

I am not always able to go and do, but I can pray and help spread the word. Sometimes it doesn't seem like much, but then sometimes it's more than I could ever imagine.

The Hubs™ took a journey to ground zero with a group from our church to help clean up debris and search for survivors. The rain continues to come and go halting relief and clean-up efforts, but they plod on searching for those not accounted for. Our group is scheduled to return this evening, but I know others are planning on heading out taking their weekend vacations to help others in need.

Many from our small little community have reached out by donating items or sending groups to aid in the recovery. Just as we all band together for our neighbors right here around us, Joplin isn't all that far away and are still like family to us. After all we're all Missourians and Americans.

It also makes us realize that it could've been us, after all, in our little part of the world we're not strangers to tornadoes. The Hubs™ and I delivered a cake last year with one right on our tail and we didn't even realize it!

So while keeping the tragedies and triumphs on our minds and hearts, I will continue to work on posting some patterns in the very near future. I hope to have at least a couple posted by the first part of next week.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend…and don't party too hard… you could poke yourself in the eye with a knitting needle!! It's all fun and games until that happens…and then, it's just…well…

Have a great one!

Onnica

HOLY CREATIVITY, CATDOG!!

All right, it’s finally sunny and NOT hot!! There has also been much stress lifted from our household as God is AWESOME in his promises.

This positive change leads to much creativity flowing around so as I begin to get some of my knitting, crocheting and crafty patterns pulled together, I shall start uploading a few here and there for FREE.

As I begin to get my Etsy shop in order and set up, I will also be posting those links for some of my more extensive creations for purchase.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as one of my largest projects has just begun and I’m feeling just a smidge overwhelmed even though there’s an entire outlined plan in place. It seems daunting and a bit nuts to put on hold daily chores to sit down and focus on this project, but I know it has to be done for me to get anything accomplished on it. 

I mean really…DON’T do the dishes so they’re sitting there LATER to catch up on? People who know me KNOW I detest doing dishes, but they still have to be done. I do have to commend The Hubs™ for stepping in and taking on some of the chore duties that are on MY list.

Enough of that…

So as the public school year winds down, my children (who are being home schooled this year) have asked to continue their studies well into the summer. This may sound crazy, but I think they’re starting to dig being able to think for themselves. They had all their studies completed before noon today and now the pressure is on for me to grade them!!

I just hope during the summer the neighbor kids don’t mind having to wait for my kids to play because of school work being finished. But then, maybe I shouldn’t worry about that…maybe I should worry the neighbor kids want to learn too and then I must plan MORE lessons (which is never really THAT bad! :O)

Okay, I know you’re wondering who CatDog is so I shall explain…

In March of last year (2010), my family adopted a long-haired Siamese kitty named Rascal. Well, to make this story short, he acts more like a dog than a cat. I mean, he’s a cat, but he ACTS like a dog (and I blame my brother for having two beagles for him to learn from!) He sits and begs, runs to the door when anyone comes to it and I swear he’d bark if he could. The ONLY thing he does cat-like is sit on the back of my computer chair when I’m working with a big paw on my shoulder. He’d sit in my lap if I’d let him, but he keeps me from typing because of his endless need for attention. Our other cats are happy to just be in the same room, but not Rascal, he has a dog’s need for attention!!!

So we’ve affectionately deemed him our CatDog!!

That being said and time to wrap this up…

As Spring turns to Summer and my blog turns to more creative ideas, I hope you all come back, use some of my ideas and please, share some of yours with me too!!

Helloooooo Sunshine!!

Okay, first let me just tell everyone, I love winter.

I love everything in my house about winter (well, not the electric bill) and it's the perfect time for cuddling with The Hubs™ and the kids. I love all my fleece jackets that are so unattractive and my comfy pants that are fuzzy and keep me warm. I also love that my comfy pants are one of those things that make my kitties follow me through the house hanging on to the hope I may sit down and they may jump into my lap, even if it's just for a moment.

I even love the snow. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom used to bundle up my sister and me and the neighbor kids built us snow forts. Without the cold and snow there would be no reason for hot chocolate, with or without marshmallows (I prefer without). I mean, God made seasons for a reason and without snow, we just haven't had winter.

Well, we've had snow a couple of times here, it's melted and now…it's time for spring.

That being said…

Today was just too much.

I normally have a pretty light Wednesday work wise, unless I've taken on some freelance or a cake job, but today was an exception. We're coming down to the wire on a deadline for our magazine that's published yearly and I have a stack of ad work orders on my desk.

Today was not a day for the sun to come out…according to my thought process anyway.

It's been so much easier for me to focus on the tasks at hand on cloudy and dreary days. But today…that sun just kept creeping through my blinds, which I had to shut to stay focused, just beckoning me to come out and bask in it.

I started my day off pretty well. I'm just working along, ads are churning out and then The Hubs™ comes home from work. I cooked him dinner (he doesn't eat breakfast before going to sleep for the day!) and I fixed the kids some lunch and got them back into their studies for the day. I sat back down to refocus…

and then the phone rang…

It wasn't enough the sun and my family was distracting me, but then I am forced to "deal" with a situation that had already been discussed, I'm sure an email had been sent regarding the same, and it had been decided a couple of weeks ago. Why am I having to hand hold someone on a volunteer issue where the decision had already been made about how it would be handled? UGH!

Leave me alone, I NEED to work!!!!

I called necessary people, emailed who I needed to and tried to get back to work.

And then…the toilet seat in my children's bathroom broke. I don't mean it cracked or something simple to fix like WD-40ing the hinges. It BROKE, the hinges ripped right out of the wooden seat and left the lid hanging in mid-air!!!

The thing I love (insert sarcasm here) about wooden toilet seats is that they're almost always equipped with metal hinges. Well, those things rust and eventually seize up on you. I know this, but we've only had this seat on there maybe 6 months! REALLY?!! That soon?!!!!

YES…the building supply is still open. I can make it down there and back and get the toilet functioning again in no time flat. We will not all have to spend the day sneaking in and out of mom and dad's bathroom chancing waking up The Dad™.

YEAH, RIGHT!!

In trying to get the old bolts out I went through a half a can of WD-40, stripped out at least one of the bolt heads with my regular screwdriver and broke off all the wings on the nuts (these were plastic and I still haven't figured out how those got so stuck to the metal bolt, but OKAY!) So…power tools…here I come.

Now anyone who knows me knows I don't give up easily. I will step back, assess the situation and try something different. I may not be "technical" with things but I will at least "try." Again, I do not use the word "can't." Something has got to work.

So out come the vice grips and the drill. I'm sure this makes for a comical picture, but it's a true one nevertheless. I was finally able to get one bolt out thus making it a little easier to work on the one that was really giving me issues. And then I broke that part of the hinge into little pieces.

Now I'm looking into the toilet with no lid or seat on it and my face is…exposed. I have to say at this point that I've never tried to screw nuts onto bolts installing or uninstalling a seat/lid without the lid actually…being there. It was, to say the least, disgusting. Seriously, I'm looking right into the toilet and thinking to myself, "I should clean this thing more often than I do. It's pretty gross."

Frustrated that I've spent an hour getting to this point (something that should've taken fifteen minutes MAX!) I grab my needle nose pliers and the top of this bolt. I finally managed to work it free and then replace the old seat/lid with the new one (which I scored for $7 and some change!)

Great! Now it's time to start supper. Well I am great at multi-tasking. I'll work while I cook.

And I did. I got quite a few ads accomplished while cooking. Okay, I'm feeling better now.

My favorite show for Wednesday came on and I watched, got The Hubs™ up and ready to go for work, kids are in bed and now I can finally work.

And then I realize…I should've just taken half an hour today to take my kids outside, enjoy the sunshine and then refocus on the tasks at hand. We all would have enjoyed it, it would benefit us with needed vitamins and I know I would've been a whole lot less cranky in dealing with the crazy situations that were thrown at me today.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this…I'm not Super Woman, Wonder Woman, or anything remotely close to those. I have faults just the same as everyone. I allowed everything today to aggravate me instead of choosing to not be offended or distracted and that was my fault.

Think of how much time I wasted being aggravated, stressed and cranky. No one benefited from my attitude today, especially me. It was not time well spent.

Well…not tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to wake up with this goal for the day and every day after that. I'm going to choose to stay positive & happy.

I'm going to have Frizzy Hair on a Sunny Day with a huge smile on my face.

And to my friend in California who sends me daily PQ's…

thanks, I needed that!

"Normal" Daily Chaos

HOLY COW…what a week!! And it isn't even over yet.

This is one mom, wife, cook, housekeeper, laundry lady, secondary bread winner (and baker!) who is seriously looking forward to The Hubs™ going back to a "normal" schedule.

My husband currently works third shift at a lab in a larger town nearby and he's been on third shift for nearly a year now. As much as we all thought that with us homeschooling and the kids being on a similar schedule with ours, it doesn't seem to always be working. And, well, let's just say that with the whole house on a late night, late morning schedule it's sometimes difficult to mesh with all those people out there who have "normal" schedules.

Now I say normal…I mean daytime. I remember daytime schedules, but that's just it. I've never been a daytime person anyway. Sure, some days when it seems I'm not really moving until noon I feel I've wasted part of my day. But the key is to make the most of the "business" part of the day I'm awake and run all errands, etc. while things are open and THEN concentrate on what needs to happen at my house.

And then there's homeschooling…

I took on homeschooling my two children this year and I have to say that I've enjoyed it. I know, for some parents they are unable to fathom what it would take to do this and that's okay. Sometimes I wish they were at public school just to be out of my hair, but I've really enjoyed spending more time with them. I can honestly say I'm one of those parents who hates to watch my children walk out the door because I simply LOVE being with them and I MISS them when they're not with me. They'll be grown and gone before I know it and I want every moment they're willing to give me (or that I can take!)

The chaos of homeschooling for us is this…

We have ONE daytime person  (who happens to be the third-shift person currently being forced to be a night-time person) who thinks everything should be on a "normal" schedule.  Now this is wonderful and it would be great if it always worked that way, but it doesn't. Several days during the week I'm glued to my computer working, The Dad™ is sleeping so everyone has to be super quiet (extra light sleeper!), the kids have their assignments they are required to complete and then we have question time. Question time is never at the same time of each day because that doesn't work for us. We've even changed our schedule several times, but it still doesn't always mesh with our daytime person's vision of "normal."

Our lack of normality is this…

My schedule is subject to change at any moment and is always jam packed with many things such as work, activities and church related commitments. We have to be flexible with our schooling and our bed times to accomplish everything we schedule in a day. I don't think it's a bad thing, but it's obviously not for everyone.

I think the most chaotic thing right now is my age and how I sleep…and let's just say it's definitely NOT "normal."

No, I'm not going to reveal my actual age (unless you can do the math on the fact that I've been 29 for 9 years now!) and I sleep in four hour increments. On some days this is good, because I am able to run with it and I still feel I slept and got rest. We've all done it…the "less is better" sleep theory. Other days, um, not so well and I feel it. I mean I FEEL it.

When I have a most creative project that is under deadline, less sleep is better. It's kind of funny that way. Creativity comes alive in moments of "slap happiness" when it otherwise probably wouldn't have surfaced. Those are awesome moments.

There's also the sheer fact that even though I've learned to say no to some things, my brain seems to thrive on not being idle. I have numerous projects that I start and come back to just to keep myself busy. My brain does not comprehend sitting in front of the TV just watching TV, it doesn't work for me. I must be doing SOMETHING.

Now I have been labeled with "Project ADHD" and I'm just going to admit it…those who say that are right. One friend actually told someone one day, "You shouldn't ask her what she does. You should ask her what she DOESN'T do. The list is much shorter!"

Not to brag, but that's probably true.

For those of you who don't know me…I'm the mom who took every dictionary we own and whited out the word "can't" because I don't believe in it. If everyone would only TRY, they may fail the first time, but TRY, TRY AGAIN and you might find you CAN do it and it only takes practice and time to get better.

But back to the chaos…

The sleep-deprived working of numerous jobs and projects seems to have been slowly catching up to me. I'm starting to crack  in joints I never did before and my body whines when I've sat too long doing one thing.

I know, everyone says exercise, but that is limited for me because of a couple of injuries that really only allow me to walk now. Those aggressive, dance-based, jumping up and down fun workout programs are almost out of my sight. Gone are the days when I could dance for two hours at a time and not pass out. Hey, I'm doing good to show my kids the running man and Roger Rabbit for only a few seconds at a time. (For my high school friends, sad, I know!)

And trying to fit exercising much more than a brisk walk into my schedule…well…that just adds to the chaos, doesn't it?

So…

I'm just going to continue going about my day-to-day doing what works for my family and me and what seems "normal" for us…

And you do what works for you!!

Frizzy Hair On A Sunny Day?

After being prodded by several friends to start my own blog, I sit here and reluctantly begin to write (TYPE, I'm TYPING!) Now this is not the funny, day-to-day stuff that I am setting out to write about in this blog. I'm not trying to offend anyone by starting this way, but before getting to the fun I feel I must get something off my chest.

In dealing with some life situations that have come to be in my little spot in the middle of nowhere, I'm reminded of many things from my childhood that it seems are simply not taught in our day and time.

Seriously, I'm not kidding. It's almost as if as adults we expect our own children to just KNOW things that we ourselves have not taken the responsibility to TEACH them ourselves. And forget the parents who simply seem to still be teenagers wrapped up in their own little worlds of "ME, ME, ME, ME, ME!!!!" I don't have the time or the space here to open that humongous can of worms. It's too deep for me to dive into!

But back to the main reason I started writing this. I know I'm finding every day things that I'm sure I covered, but somehow still managed to overlook. HOW could I have missed expressing the whole "please remember to put the cap on that so it doesn't dry out" or "don't try to drink while you're walking because you'll spill it" and other things that seems to be "common sense" and spoken plain enough for even toddler minds to have a grasp on?

Are my kids drinking some special water that causes their brains to block learning sensors? Why do they stand there with a glazed look on their face like my mouth may be moving but the mute button has been pressed? Or just the mere fact that they're quiet but the moment my voice is heard interrupt mode kicks in and The Mom's spoken word is overwritten. WHAT? Yeah, I know that one too!!

Maybe that's just it…"common sense."

Sense just doesn't seem to be too common anymore.

Common sense that manners matter.
Listening, not talking, makes you smarter.

And then there's my personal favorite…and those of you on board with me I'm sure will agree it's aggravating…EVERYONE'S A WINNER!

WHAT?!!!!!!!! REALLY?!!!!!!!!

Now, I have to say, when my children were smaller I did let them win at board games and hide-n-go-seek, but they're much bigger now and if I let them win they get angry! They want to win on their own merits just as badly as the next person!

What infuriates me is what is creeping into every corner of everything my children work hard for…sports, academics, whatever is out there…"EVERYONE IS SPECIAL."

Does this not imply that life is fair? Wait…but it isn't.

"If everyone is special, then no one is." ~ Mr. Incredible

I totally agree…

How am I expected to teach my children to "DO THEIR BEST" when doing their best isn't going to matter and they will never have the same "fair" that "everyone is special" is supposed to provide?

(Yes, my son went through Cub Scouts with me as a leader and has advanced to Boy Scouts!)

You've been there…no matter how hard your child tries there's always those couple of kids who win the prize because it's one of a couple of things…they're in the "Clique" or someone feels pity for them.

So what's so special about that?

I'm not trying to stand on my soap box and tell everyone I'm the best mom because I've taught my kids this and that better than anyone else. Let me get off that box right now and let someone else stand there…but really, what are we teaching our children? It seems it's not the way it used to be, but maybe it should be.

And then I wonder what we as adults are really TEACHING…or are we?

Keep in mind this one thing…we are always watched whether we think we are or not and our actions DO speak louder than words. So what ARE you teaching?

I'm teaching frizzy hair on a sunny day!