Lemonade

Sometimes, a day starts out on a really crappy note.

You know, like finding out that the trailer that contains a huge amount of your Scouts' camping equipment has been broken into.

I got that message first thing this morning, so Daniel and I took off into town to deal with that. I crawled around inside the trailer and was relieved to find that nothing obvious was missing, but the latch itself was destroyed. I made the police report (not that I expect anything to come of it) and then one of the Scout dads and I ran all over town trying to find a new latch.

We couldn't find one, so we secured it as well as we could in order to form a plan, which will ultimately involve towing the trailer over here to put it in my garage so that I can go through it, clean it out, and inventory everything that is in there - a job that I've been meaning to do for months. And one of the Scout grandpas thinks that he can weld the latch to repair it for free - a huge bonus for our little pack of boys.

Of course, in order to get it over here to inventory the contents, there has to be room in my garage - which would not normally be a problem.

However......

A month or so ago (maybe more) a friend of mine found out that a friend of hers was cleaning out a "hoarder house" - it was a house that was apparently stuffed full of fabric and craft goodies (the owner had passed away), and the person who was cleaning it out didn't want to throw all of the fabric in a dumpster. So I went over and spent a few hours going through floor-to-ceiling piles of fabric, batting, sewing supplies, partially completed quilt tops, spools of thread, and so much crap that it was unreal. I piled as much as I could into the van and brought it home.

However, it all stunk. It had that nasty musty stale animal old lady smell to it, so I piled it all in the garage until I could figure out what to do with it.

I had hoped that just leaving it in the garage would kill the smell, but it didn't. I started to worry that I wouldn't be able to get rid of the smell and I'd just have to toss the stuff after all.

With the latest development of the Scout trailer being moved in sometime in the next few days, I knew that I had to do something with the pile today, so I started going through it. I unrolled all of the batting and hung it out on the clothesline to air out, and I took the first pile of fabric and quilt squares and quilt tops and tossed them into the washer with lots of detergent, and hoped for the best.

When the first load was done and I opened the washer, I was greeted with no smell at all. Not willing to risk the odor coming back in the dryer, I hung it all out of the line to dry. Some of the tops started to pull apart, and some of the fabric basically disintegrated, but I think there is quite a bit that is salvageable with a lot of patience and a little bit of luck.

Some of it is remarkably hideous. Some of it is gorgeous. Some is hand stitched, some is done by machine. Most of it is polyester (ick) but some of it is cotton. There is absolutely no way to tell how old any of it is.

Now that I'm getting a chance to actually look at some of the stuff, I think I'm going to do what I can to finish as much of it as possible into quilts - some are going to be small lap-sized ones, some a little bigger, and some might actually be twin or full-sized by the time that they're done. And when they're done, they're going to be donated somewhere. I've seen a couple of programs over the years where foster care agencies look for quilts and blankets for kids that are in state custody, so that's where I'm going to start.

Busted up trailer. Dirty hoarder fabric. Cluttered garage.

Lemons.

Motivation to clean, organize, and inventory the trailer along with getting it fixed (hopefully) for free. Fabric that is coming clean with not much effort. Cleaner garage. Being able to take stuff that I have to turn into donations for someone who needs it.

Lemonade.

Perspective. 

Like a boss

I made a vow to myself yesterday that I was going to at least get my desk cleaned off today. I intended to do it first thing, but I kept getting distracted (imagine that).

On the plus side, one of those distractions was actually forcing myself to get outside and go for a walk.

It was cold. And windy. And muddy. But I did it. I only did about 2.5 miles, but I even managed to jog quite a bit of it, so progress is progress at this point, and it's another step toward my goal of not only doing the half-marathon but also getting healthier in general.

And I actually feel pretty good for getting out there and doing it. We'll just see if that continues through until morning.

After I got back home from that, The Dude and I went and grabbed a quick bite to eat and then ran some errands before he had to go to work. By then it was time for me to pick up the boys and then do supper and then go to Scouts and continue working on laundry and everything else. Finally, around the time that the boys went to bed, I started working on cleaning off my desk. I actually did more than I planned on doing, and cleaned off the top of the filing cabinet - which has always been a catch-all - and went through quite a bit of paperwork as well.

So all in all - while it wasn't a fun and exciting day - it was a productive day. I needed a day like this to actually help get me on the right track and maybe start getting some stuff accomplished around here. For real.

Tomorrow's plan? Other than the usual stuff, I'm going to do a few more miles, help The Dude change the oil in my van, scrub the bathroom, and maybe even mop some floors. And sew. I'm going to sew.

The now infamous Tooth Fairy letter.

Holy crap.

That's about all I can say right now. Had I known what would happen when I posted a picture of a letter that the Tooth Fairy wrote to Emily at about 1:00 this morning, I might have thought twice. Or not.

The letter.

I thought that a few people would get a chuckle out of it, and that would be it. Now, here I sit less than 24 hours later....and there are almost 1900 likes on it on facebook and it has been shared almost the same number of times. More than 300 new people have come to my facebook page and have 'liked' that as well.

Really? It was just a silly letter to try to get my kid to clean her room.

I would say that well over 99% of the comments that I received and/or saw on other pages were positive - something that shocks me. It seems like even the most innocent share can trigger the haters and trolls to come out of the woodwork - so I got really nervous when I saw the numbers exploding after I posted it.

There were a few questions raised, and rather than attempt to answer them through comments on facebook, I figured I'd just address them all here. It's easy. And I might have a lazy streak in me at times.

The most common question related to the "bodies" in the bed. Yes, Emily is 11 years old, so no, there are no boys in her bed (unless one of her brothers sneaks in there during the night). The only other live body was that of her 13 year old sister, who insists on sleeping in the bottom bunk with Emily more often than not. And it irritates me to no end - whenever they sleep in the same bed, they end up fighting over the covers or who kicked who in the face or whose breath stinks the worst or whatever. So I hate when they sleep in the same bed. Plus, there were several inanimate bodies in the bed as well as a bunch of extra pillows and covers and all sorts of crap that made it next to impossible to find the tooth pillow under her pillow.

Tooth pillow. What's a tooth pillow? I saw that comment somewhere. If you look at this post you can see a picture of the tooth pillow. I got it when I was little, and the kids have all used it. It makes it much easier for the Tooth Fairy to find the tooth under the pillow in the bed if it's in this, and then the money gets stuck in the pocket so that it doesn't get lost either.

One comment that really kind of ticked me off annoyed me caught my eye was on one of the shares, where someone said something to the effect of me being a horrible mother, and my kid was going to be scarred for life. Uh huh. Whatever. I'm pretty sure that not getting her buck for her tooth until her room is clean is going to put her in therapy. Get over it.

There was another that wanted to know why she had to ask THE MOTHER and not THE FATHER. Too bad that was on a share too, so I couldn't comment and tell that person that there is no father in this house. I'm a single mom. I have The Dude, but he doesn't live here, and he's not their father. That one kind of bugged me too, but I just chalked it up to someone not being familiar with the story.

Probably the most common question was "did it work?"

Before

The answer to that is yes. And no.

Let me start off by saying that I do take responsibility for some of the mess in this room. We rearranged a month or two ago, and I had to take some of their shelves off of the wall in order to do it, and things kept distracting me and I didn't get the shelves put back up. And well, it's hard to put things away when the shelves aren't there. However, that has nothing to do with the dirty laundry all over the floor, or the garbage in general that was spread out all over the place.

They definitely started out strong. They got in there and they really started working. I got the shelves put back up (busted out some power tools to do it too...hehehe) and got some other shelves anchored to the wall and they got a lot of stuff put away. We had to stop to take Sarah to the school for open gym, and then we came back and worked some more, and then we had to stop again to take Emily to the school for basketball practice, so we kept getting distracted.

During

I thought that things were going really well in there, and it was starting to look really good, but then they dug into a huge tub (the green one in the 'before' picture) that was full of old artwork. It had been stored in cardboard boxes before, but the boxes got broken down over time and so we tossed everything into this tub. And they dug it all out and started going through it, so more of a mess was created. But, we got rid of a bunch of it, so that will help in the long run.

So yes, it worked to a point. The room is not clean by any stretch of the imagination, but they put in a good effort. So I may go ahead and allow the Tooth Fairy to come back tonight - especially since they'll be at their father's house for the next couple of nights. However, considering that it's after 11:00 and I can still hear them, I may cancel it again tonight.


Now....for something really funny. While Sarah was at open gym, I took the other 4 kids to the convenience store to get drinks. I left Emily and the boys in the van and went in to get what we needed, and then realized that I didn't ask her what she wanted. So I went back out to the van with drinks for me and the boys, and sent her into the store to get something for herself. She came out with a bottle of Jones soda.

If you're not familiar with Jones soda, they have little sayings under their caps. Keep in mind that we got these in the middle of the cleaning spree - and this is what Emily got:

(*Edited to add: In case you're wondering about how Emily has handled the hubbub around the letter, read this post - especially if you're one of the people who has something negative to say about it.)

(*Edited again regarding the hateful comments and judgment that I've received about this thing.)

(**Edited again to add: Emily has written her own post about this thing. If you'd like to read that - and you should - you need to click here.)

It's a puzzle

This is what my brain feels like tonight.

I'm not sure what's going on with it. Maybe it's the fact that Christmas is over. Maybe it's the impending New Year. Maybe it's the full moon. Maybe it's a combination of a whole bunch of different things that are jumbled up in there.

All I know is that right now, my mind is going in eleventy bajillion different directions, and I can't seem to get it to slow down. I have so many things that I want to do in so many areas of my life, and I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now because all of those ideas are running around in a great big unorganized mess in my head.

Yes, I know I go through this every now and then. I think everyone does, whether they want to admit it or not.

It used to be that when I would get into these moods, I would either ignore them and drive myself nuttier than I already am, or I would just jump right into whatever crazy plan was rolling around in my head at that moment. Or worse yet, I would start all 87 plans that were in my head at the same time, and never finish any of them.

I'm going to do something different this time. I'm just going to let my brain go. I'm going to see what kind of crazy ideas develop. And I'm going to keep a notebook and a pen beside me and I'm going to write things down. And I'm going to figure out what it is that has me so restless right now. Maybe, just maybe, if I write everything down as it comes to me, I'll be able to get my thoughts organized. I'll be able to figure out what it is that I want to do vs. what I need to do. I can prioritize. And maybe I can actually feel like I can accomplish something instead of starting it and never getting it done.

I feel like so much is finally starting to fall into place in my life - I am so lucky and so blessed (that is a word that I don't toss around lightly, either) - maybe this is really the time for me to start focusing on some of the things that I want to do with my life. Maybe this is the time to start looking into how to turn my craft hobby into a legitimate business (one of the biggest things bouncing around in my head right now). Maybe this is the time to start looking for a part-time job to help supplement our income. Maybe this is the time to really start looking for a bigger house for us to move into in the next few months.

I'm not usually the type of person to do "resolutions" every year, but I'm starting to think that maybe this could be our year. I can finally say that I'm looking forward to the future instead of dreading it.

I'm ready to get the new year started.

The bazaar...

So today was the bazaar at my church. I set most of my stuff up last night, tweaked it and added a few things this morning, then settled in with the hand sewing that needed to be done on the quilt to finish it.

The crowd was steady and sales were good all day long. I brought home considerably less than what I took in, which made me happy because those boxes of jars are HEAVY! My arms are sore from carrying them around - I am totally out of practice for these shows.

While I didn't bring home quite as much money as I would have liked to, I still did very well. I'm happy with it, and it already enabled me to  pick up a few little extra things that I wanted (hello, flash drives for digital picture storage) as well as a few things that we needed (hello, toilet paper).

The Dude was a huge help. He kept Daniel all day while I worked the show, and he came and got Emily from me (she was helping) and took her to Ex1's church for me so that she could attend a wedding over there. He took Daniel back over to his place while I packed everything up and brought it home - and I literally just dumped it in the middle of the living room floor before I went back over there for a while. I want to go through and sort some of it out a bit better before I actually put it away - but I'm planning on doing that tomorrow after church (if my sore muscles will let me go).

Alex won't be home until tomorrow evening, so it's just going to be me and Daniel during the day tomorrow - I foresee lots of cleaning and organizing, and maybe a nap thrown in just for good measure - and because he's the only kid who will still take a nap with me. The boys don't have school on Monday, so I'm looking forward to maybe sleeping in a little bit that day.

We'll see if that happens or not.

Another day in the life...

We didn't do anything terribly exciting today. It was nice being able to sleep in for a change, since this was the first "official" day of Spring Break for the kids. They actually let me sleep in much later than I expected, but then demanded that I get up to make them breakfast. But I fed them yesterday....

Sarah was still gone visiting a friend, so the 4 kids and I hung out and I cleaned and puttered around the house. They spent most of the day bickering over what movies to watch and what games to play, since it was raining almost all day. I could have sent them outside to play in the mud, but that would just create more of a mess for me to clean up so yeah, that wasn't happening. I do enough laundry and sweeping and mopping as it is.

After Sarah got home, we decided to get out of the house for a bit. We ended up going to Burger King for supper so that the kids could blow off some steam in the playground for a while and I could just sit and think somewhat coherently and make a to-do list.

It wasn't really storming out at all today, although there were a few rumbles of thunder and I saw a few flashes of lightning. It just pretty much rained all day, but it had stopped by the time we went out to eat. When we left the restaurant though, the sky looked super cool.

After we got home and I was trying to put laundry away, I got irritated because I can never find enough hangars for my clothes. I thought about going out to buy more, and then really started to look at my clothes. I don't have a closet - my stuff hangs on a rack (that I found in the yard when we moved in to this house) in the laundry room. And it was crammed full.

So I started looking through clothes and realized that I didn't really need any more hangars - I needed to get rid of some crap. I started going through and pulled out a bunch of stuff that I haven't worn in years, and some stuff that had been given to me that I never wore, and some stuff that was just downright hideous. It didn't make a huge difference, but I probably have about 15 empty hangars that I didn't have before, and 2 bags of stuff to be donated somewhere.

And it's all organized. For now.

Oh, and an added bonus? I found a couple of pairs of jeans that fit me that I didn't know that I had!

I'm actually hoping to go through it again and get rid of a few more things - it usually takes me 2 or 3 runs through the stuff to really thin it out - but it's going to be done. I have way too much crap in this house and a lot of it just needs to go elsewhere so that the next time we move, I don't have to deal with so much extra useless stuff.

Little by little, we're getting there. One of these days I'm going to go through that shelf that's over top of the clothes and get rid of 90% of the games and toys that are stashed up there. The kids have never really played with them, so they just need to go too.

Hopefully the weather will be a little nicer tomorrow and we can get back outside again. But, it doesn't look terribly promising. We'll just have to see what happens.