made my bed.... does that count?

I am falling behind in my quest. I admit it. Not too many tangible creative things made (I want to sew....)
Monday I was finishing my cafe notebook, all the innards are there, it just isn't decorated.
Tuesday, I started doing the velcro dots for my numberline for my classroom. GREAT idea, but it needs a zillion velcro dots which I HAVE ordered from feiner supply, but they aren't here yet, and I was using what I had in my classroom. I'll post a pic of it when I am done with it.
Also, Tuesday, I made a new room arrangement (we had gotten new carpet in our upstairs rooms) and I guess that you could say that that is a tangible thing because you can walk around and touch it, but it doesn't feel creative.
Yesterday I made it to spin class and to our church's marriage building class, doesn't count as a tangible thing.(sad face)
I have a ton of ideas for things I want to make, and fabric sitting here just waiting to be used, but it is the TIME/people-need-my-ATTENTION factor that is so hard. I wish that I could give up sleeping, but I am a mess without enough zzzz's.
And I can't believe that it is Thursday already. Where does my time go?
All righty, gonna whip myself back into shape... Tonight, I will make something creative or at least start it. I can do anything for 15 minutes:)

bread, wine and the play offs

I am very excited that my beloved Cowboys FINALLY won a play off game. It was awful, that thirteen year stretch without a play off win.
Now, we are on to the play the Vikings next week. I think it is really sweet that Romo is going to play his childhood hero. I mean, can you imagine? I think that is how you would know that you had really arrived. The guy's jersey that you wore in middle school is now across the field from you and he is trying to beat YOU! And it is a testament to Favre's staying power. I really do like Favre, he's a class act, but it is time for the Cowboys to win and win and win! Go Cowboys!

Friday night was my book club. We read Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. It is a book about Dr. Paul Farmer, who is a modern day saint, as far as I am concerned. He is trying to cure Tb around the world and to bring Haiti simple, good medical care. I couldn't believe that I was reading about a doctor trying to cure tb (yawn as a subject) but I was riveted. It was a fascinating, well written, interesting book. I couldn't put it down!

As to what I have made, Friday I worked really hard to get my CAFE reading notebook set up. Put in the individual pages for each kid and am getting things in place to start an intentional reading assessment center for my kids that I need to target with a lot more intensive instruction. I have to catch them up. I won't let them fail.

Saturday, I made a choice. I was feeling pretty blue in the early afternoon. I have been working really hard and haven't had a lot of time to recharge me. So, I decided to treat myself and go and get my nails done. It was really relaxing. I love that chair that you sit in for the pedicure. It rolls up and down your back. It leaves me a bit sore the nest day, but it is fabulous otherwise. Releases all that stress! The toes are Cowboys blue! The fingers are french manicured. I feel pretty, girly, and relaxed. And, you have to admire the salon that I go to--they had the football games on. I got done right in time to see kick off.

I have been trying to not go and spend money when I am emotional. Its a goal to stop that kind of spending, but I have been good now for 4 months, so getting my nails done was a small treat, and well worth it.

I made bread this afternoon. We were out and I didn't feel like going to the store for more. I want to become more self reliant and less store reliant. I haven't made homemade bread in a while. My picky family only likes the creepy white wonder type bread, much to my eternal sadness. How could you not just love homemade bread. I used Chocolate on my Cranium's white bread recipe. I made 3 regular white loaves and a 4th cinnamon bread for breakfast. I have this really cool bread proofer to my oven. It makes bread rising a snap, especially in the winter when our house seems cooler.

Gotta go put the bread in the oven......

things on the to do list

This week has been a challenge as far as time (for me) management goes. I broke down and bought dinner out one night, just because we were so harried. I can control what I need to do, but it is harder with the kids who pop up with things. We have a weekly family meeting on Sunday nights, but it is surprising how many things that they "forget" that I am required to attend (Chinese meetings, have to return this and the next night, get this and on and on and on...)

Anyway, I thought if I put a to do list together for what I want to do, maybe it would be helpful.
So, here goes...

1. watch the Cowboys beat the Eagles this weekend in the playoffs:)
2. finish the cloth project that I am working on
3. finish the notebook print outs and make copies
4. make a list of projects for the future
5. download pictures for a digital scrapbook
6. do the weekly prep and plan and menu planning for the next two weeks
7. move all of the furniture from our rooms into the boys room for next week when we get new carpets in the upstairs.
8. make a cover for my legal pad. (I have to hunt the blogosphere to see if there are any tutes out there:)

Well, off to work!

Some days its hard to make even a bowl of cereal

Well, we are in day 4 of the 365 make something every day challenge. It is day 2 of returning to school.
Yesterday I made a another set of liners. They are turning out pretty nicely. I wonder how they will work.

Today, I am making an assessment notebook for my classroom. I think it is going to be a two day or more project. The creative person in me wants to have a notebook party and get a ton of my teacher friends together and we all create our notebooks, making them super cute and organized, because there is NOTHING like that feeling of being well prepared with uber cute supplies:) If I could figure out how to bottle that feeling, I could rule the world. I think I became a teacher JUST because I love school supplies. I think I am really an office supplies junkie. Really. It might be the hot new addiction of the millenium. I can see me now, in a therapy session for Office Depot junkies. Hi, my name is Karen and I am addicted to sticky notes in a rainbow of colors and don't even get me started on those cute retractable sharpie pens.
Seriously though, I should, I should send out an email and host a notebook party. (The notebook party was suggested in the CAFE book that I am reading for book club.) I will MAKE that a resolution for this week too. (Ha! Two things made today!)
I just have to find a time that works to do it.... Hmmmm. Maybe I need a trip to Office Depot to look for just the right pen to write the notebook party time into my planner ;)

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag

I made a new bag for toting around library books. I made it from a pillowcase. I went to Creative Kismet's blog and used her tutorial. It took less than 30 minutes start to finish. It turned out really cute! I wish I had my camera.I could whip up about a million of them to use as grocery totes, book totes, etc. Pillowcases are going to be high on my thrifting and garage sale list now.


I also "made" a complaint. I emailed Comcast and complained about the football line up today. I knew in advance that we weren't going to get the Dallas game. I THOUGHT it might be because they were going to show another game, like the Chargers or some other west coast team. No harm, no foul. BUT NOOOOOO! We were treated to Hillbillies on bikes. I KID YOU NOT! Fox showed these dumkoffs on motocross bikes and had this yokel who was "comically" commentating in a well, the best it could be called is hillbilly voice- no disrespect to any hillbilly. I was livid. It is one thing to not show a game because another closer team is playing, but to show stupid stuff instead, just makes me mad. And it wasn't even like it was something important to motocross, that stupid show was like something you'd see on World's Dumbest whatevers.

But my lovely husband took me to the Blazing Onion where we got to see at least highlights of the Cowboys-beat-the-Eagles game. Woo hoo! 24 to 0! 2 shut out games in a row and we play the Eagles again next week in the play offs!

Well, I am off to make fajitas for dinner! I am going to make some homemade bread and rolls tonight too for school lunches tomorrow.
Then, we are back to our normal schedule for school nights. The party's over!

The 365 project- Making it one day at a time

This year, I am starting a 365 day project. I am going to make something everyday this year.
It is in part, a reaction to the fact that I don't feel creative enough and I don't feel like I "create" enough. Creating things through sewing, cooking, baking, and other small projects is a great stress reliever.

I am going to attempt some rules (which I am sure that I will break, but as they are my rules;)...

1. I cannot use "make" as in "make a reservation" any more than twice per week.
2. There should be some tangible thing made everyday.
3. I should use what I have before I go out and buy any materials for said projects.
4. The things that I make should be useful and helpful to my life, or to others.


Yesterday, the first official day of the project, I made homemade bagel bites for my kids,(I figured that it cost about $3.90 to make 24 mini bagel pizza halves.) shredded 2 pounds of cheese for later use and made a scrumptious-good-as-a-restaurant dessert.

Today I am in the process of cutting out and making the materials to put together for women's cloths. I am using a wool sweater that got put in the dryer accidentally and the leftover flannel from the kids' Christmas pj's.

I hope that you had a great NEW year!

The Worst Words

I haven't been blogging although this was a major goal for me. I have been in a tail spin recently. But now I need to write about this. Maybe someday, someone reading this will be helped a little. That is my hope.

October 20th, I went in for a colonoscopy because of general tummy aches that would not go away. I thought perhaps I was lactose intolerant. But as I am youngish, not yet 40, I never even dreamed that it might be something more serious.
They found a mass in my colon which the doc thought looked like cancer. They took the biopsy and sure enough, it was.
I don't know how you hear those words. Until then, being told "you have cancer" was my second worst fear. The doc said it was like having a bomb go off in the room. And it is. It is one of those horrible moments that time stands still and rushes forward as well, with a viscous, sticky, lurching. In your head you are trying desperately to listen, to make sense of the language, the words that people are saying to you, but nothing makes sense. All you can hear is the word cancer, cancer, cancer, ringing through your skull like a bell.

Then it was followed by two or three days of hospital and doctor visits. My new doc, Dr.Martin, was so positive. He told me that he was in the business of curing cancer. He explained everything so well and gave me just absolute confidence in him. On October 30th, I was scheduled for surgery.

During the ten days between diagnosis and surgery, I had to tell the staff at my school, and my students, my family and my friends. While you might think that would have been difficult everyone was so supportive and loving. I am truly blessed to live where I do, with all of the people I have surrounding me. I am almost too blessed. Those ten days have a party like atmosphere in my recollection.

But God has been holding me in his hand. Just cradling me next to his heart. At risk of sounding wacky, I could almost hear God's heartbeat during my day. I had no fear, none. I was being protected from pain, and fear. I am amazed at God's goodness. I am undeserving of being treated so.

October 30th, I went in for surgery which was totally successful. They got everything. It did not spread to my lymph nodes or anywhere beyond. I don't even have to have chemo. Now how amazing is that?

It has been a week now. I was in the hospital for 5 days and have been home now for two nights. I am walking and resting and able to do most everything that I could before. I get tired more easily, but I am sailing right through recovery. I will be right as rain soon. I will be able to go back to my beloved classroom in about a week, albeit half time until after Thanksgiving.

But the best thing is I have been CURED of cancer. I never thought that that was possible. I was under the delusion that once you had cancer, it could be arrested or put into remission, but never really left your system, But mine was cut out, biopsied, studied and now I hope thrown away or burned. It no longer exists.

So, two weeks ago, I was a cancer victim, but now, I am cancer free. I am too lucky. I am too blessed. There are so many other people out there with way worse cancers. People who are suffering and in pain. People who are lonely and scared.

I haven't yet decided what I need to do to help, but I am going to do something. I feel that I was given a great second chance, I need to make this world better while I am here. That has become an imperative.

So, I hope that you never have to hear the words that you fear the most, but strangely, once you hear them, and survive, then you realize how little there is left to fear. It is liberating and exhilarating.

May you be as blessed as I am.