...you know, the "green, organic, natural, hippy" type. This may not seem like news to most people, considering my previous ventures: homemade laundry detergent, cloth diapers, composting, etc. I do have to say though that I lasted at those things MUCH longer then I ever expected. I'm taking some time off of the homemade detergent and dishwasher soap. I need to tweak my formulas a bit, and in the meantime I'm enjoying the convenience of the store bought stuff. K has outgrown his cloth diapers, but I'm shelling out the cash to buy chlorine-free diapers (thanks to Amazon, they are about the same price as others.) My garden has been doing great, I pick about 1 cup of raspberries every single morning and K devours them instantly. Not sure what the poor boy is going to do when they stop producing. I also have 4 huge butternut squash that I can't wait to cook up. My tomatoes are pretty much done but I did get a good 20 tomatoes off of my three little plants. And a few little sweet peppers grew, but I apparently don't know how to grow them because this is the second year of failing at it.
Our newest venture in this area involves food. I am fed up with the crap that we have been eating. I spent the day cleaning out our cupboards, fridge, and freezer. Now, we can't switch 100% to organic foods, I seriously think that only a millionaire could do that with the way that stuff is priced. A gallon of regular milk is $3, a gallon of organic milk? $6. And when you have kids that drink a ton of milk, it does add up. But thanks to a friend I have joined a food co-op that sells organic and natural foods in bulk for lower prices. I have a huge order coming in this week to restock the cupboards.
I feel like I've made some serious progress though, I have gotten Jason hooked on quinoa and Greek yogurt! Anyone who knows Jason knows that this wasn't easy! I say the word "organic" or "natural" and he cringes. And next week I am joining the local gym. I remember the days when I woke up at 4:30 every single morning and dragged my fat butt to the gym, and was still at work by 6 am. It sucked every single morning but by 6am I felt amazing. You'd think it would be easier now that I'm not working, but for some reason it seems harder to find the time. I found a gym that has a child care center where I can ditch K for an hour for a whopping $3. With the monthly gym fees, it will be pricey, but I don't care. I deserve some time to myself to feel better!
August 31, 2010
August 6, 2010
Birthday
Today would be my daughter's third birthday. I don't have anything fancy to write, just a simple happy birthday wish for her. We love and miss you, Alex!
August 1, 2010
Ahem...
....this is me neglecting my blog once again. A whole month between posts is not good! I wanted to share some pictures of a project that I have just finished, hope you like it!
My mother-in-law recently retired from being a nurse. She worked in a nursing home to be exact. After she retired, she sold most of her uniform tops since she no longer needed them. My husband tells me all of the time how crazy his mom was about her tops. She spent hours upon hours shopping for them and had about 10 times as many as the average nurse. She loved the brightly colored ones, often her patients would comment on how bright and lovely they were. I imagine many of her patients didn't have regular family visits and any brightness in their day was therapeutic. Anyway, she brought them to me to sell on Craigslist and my husband had the great idea to "buy" them from her (giving her the money and telling her someone else bought them) and sew them into a quilt. And it worked, because up until yesterday when she opened it, she had no clue that we had them the whole time!
When she opened it, she knew right away where the fabric had come from. And of course Jason had a wonderful "speech" planned that brought her to tears. About how the color represented the color she put into her patients lives, and the dark fabric on the back represented the darker times in her life. I won't get into it, but she has been through a lot, one of which was putting herself through college as a single mom. It also just so happens that the backing fabric is a remnant that use to belong to her mother who is now deceased. Also, I had my mom embroider a saying on the fabric that Jason found to be representative of his mom's life. I believe it was a quote from Dolly Parton, "If you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain." So there were many things symbolized in this quilt. I give my husband 100% of the credit for the idea and creating the symbolism. I just did the work :)
So here are some pictures of the final quilt. Remember, I am NOT a professional and am 100% self-taught (thanks to the wonderful internet!) This was my first time piecing together the blocks. There are 12 different uniform top fabrics included (two different ones per square.)
(If anyone can tell me what kind of fabric that backing material is, I'd love to know. Like I said, it's a really old remnant that was found amongst Jason's Grandmother's fabrics. The back of the fabric is slightly shiny. The front is a soft, velvety fabric that feels almost like faux suede. It is not at all stretchy.)
My mother-in-law recently retired from being a nurse. She worked in a nursing home to be exact. After she retired, she sold most of her uniform tops since she no longer needed them. My husband tells me all of the time how crazy his mom was about her tops. She spent hours upon hours shopping for them and had about 10 times as many as the average nurse. She loved the brightly colored ones, often her patients would comment on how bright and lovely they were. I imagine many of her patients didn't have regular family visits and any brightness in their day was therapeutic. Anyway, she brought them to me to sell on Craigslist and my husband had the great idea to "buy" them from her (giving her the money and telling her someone else bought them) and sew them into a quilt. And it worked, because up until yesterday when she opened it, she had no clue that we had them the whole time!
When she opened it, she knew right away where the fabric had come from. And of course Jason had a wonderful "speech" planned that brought her to tears. About how the color represented the color she put into her patients lives, and the dark fabric on the back represented the darker times in her life. I won't get into it, but she has been through a lot, one of which was putting herself through college as a single mom. It also just so happens that the backing fabric is a remnant that use to belong to her mother who is now deceased. Also, I had my mom embroider a saying on the fabric that Jason found to be representative of his mom's life. I believe it was a quote from Dolly Parton, "If you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain." So there were many things symbolized in this quilt. I give my husband 100% of the credit for the idea and creating the symbolism. I just did the work :)
So here are some pictures of the final quilt. Remember, I am NOT a professional and am 100% self-taught (thanks to the wonderful internet!) This was my first time piecing together the blocks. There are 12 different uniform top fabrics included (two different ones per square.)
(If anyone can tell me what kind of fabric that backing material is, I'd love to know. Like I said, it's a really old remnant that was found amongst Jason's Grandmother's fabrics. The back of the fabric is slightly shiny. The front is a soft, velvety fabric that feels almost like faux suede. It is not at all stretchy.)
A huge thanks to my mom for helping us make this quilt perfect by adding the quote!
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