Filed under: life
It’s been raining quite a bit, so today Ella was not to be kept inside….she figured out how to open the screen door and went out on the deck, in the rain, to play in the “puddles” that had formed on our recently improved deck boards. She is an adventure and a half.
Splish Splash
I love it when people get married in their OWN way. Our friends Gregg and Angela were married this Saturday.
Ella and Peter were asked to participate and they were both thrilled to do so. I was also honored to help pull off the first wedding in the Temple for the American Dream (which Peter and I helped to build!) in under 2 days.
Working with the Detroit Evolution Laboratory has brought me so many new friends, and has quite honestly given me a “place” (even in my own life) where I’m not out of place. I love my friends Angela and Gregg for that, and for the confidence they’ve given Peter, by having confidence in him and his abilities, and for helping me and my family to BELIEVE in Detroit again. There’s so much to say, but Pictures are always better:
Filed under: motherhood
I cannot believe it. As of today, my first baby is a middle schooler. 6th grade this fall. Why didn’t I cry, when all the other mothers I know are sobbing because their babies are growing up?
Maybe it’s because he’s so happy about it? Maybe because he keeps getting ore wonderful, and I look forward to experiencing who he becomes?
Either way, I’m not nostalgic about his Elementary School days. I’m happy for him. Happy he’s so enthusiastic about moving on, and moving up. If any 10 year old is ready for Middle School, Peter is. And so am I, right behind him.
We had our bath in the kitchen today. I cannot believe how big she is! I know, I know very soon this will seem “small” and she won’t be fascinated by bumblebees, and saying “dropped it” or “reach it” won’t be such a big deal anymore….someday she’ll be leaving elementary school like Peter will tomorrow. But for now, she looks big to me. Barely fits in the sink…
Filed under: work
…will be the death of me.
Why can’t I be up sewing until 2:30 am? Why do I think it’s okay to stay up to complete this project and not my own?
Answer: Money.
I guess I wouldn’t want to HAVE to finish something overight on the sewing machine for someone else at the last minute, even with a rush charge, and even for money, either.
I just wish I were sewing.
Back to work!
Only I’ve been so swamped I haven’t kept up with my blog (gee, can you tell?) there’s just SO MUCH going on, right on top of Peter’s last days of elementary school and baseball season in two separate leagues for Jack and Peter, too! And Ella….well, as usual, she’s a post in herself!
Back to the tagging. I’m surprised and honored to have been named as someone Mellissa would like to know more about!
1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Wow, 10 years ago I was working full-time and traveling a lot, Peter was Ella’s age, and my (former) marriage was falling apart. I’m happier now!
2.) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
These are actually for tomorrow since the day is almost over.
a) Get the kid off to school.
b) Go to Brightmoor Neighborhood in Detroit to check out in what kind of volunteering I could possibly participate with toddler in tow to help build the Temple of the American Dream for the Detroit Dream Project.
c) Attend Peter’s Honors Ceremony, where he’ll be receiving an award for academic excellence.
d) Keep an eye on Ella’s kindergarten friend for a little while between events and take her to school so her mom can help out at Peter (and T’s) class party.
e) Finish some marketing materials for my favorite client.
3) Snacks I enjoy:
Green Smoothies, Trader Joe’s Multi-grain with soy sauce mini-crackers, apple slices, sorbet, so many to list, but one thing it for sure…I should be enjoying all snacks a little less often!
4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Invest in local businesses I believe in. Anything else would probably continue as is….maybe hire a personal yoga instructor to come to my house and watch Ella so I could enjoy some more practice. (I could do that if I were a “thousandaire” too, I guess)
5) Places I have lived:
Michigan, Germany, South Carolina (for a summer) California, and spent a lot of time near Seattle – and I’d love to live there, or at least have some land to visit there right now!
6.) Jobs I have had:
“Jobs I haven’t had” would yield a shorter answer…In no particular order: I’ve worked in coffeehouses, fast food chains (all of them), for a private investigator, as a sculpture model, a singer, for an architectural firm, I was a call center manager, a copy editor, a strategic planning analyst, a translator, seamstress, graphic designer, research assistant, writer, and marketing director, and finally a marketing consultant.
7.) 6 Peeps I would like to know more about:(in no particular order)
a) Astrid at www.connectingthedots.dk
b) Jeannine at http://sewpink.wordpress.com
c) Teri at http://mermaids.wordpress.com
d) Mellissa at http://wondermommy.wordpress.com
e) Melissa and Lynne at http://sugarcityjournal.blogspot.com/
f) Kimberly at http://www.embracecreate.blogspot.com/
That’s all…but wait, how about a gratuitous picture of Peety on base? This was Saturday and it felt like 100 degrees, but Ella was less of a wild animal than she was tonight AND her grandparents were there (photo courtesy of them 
More soon…
…then you’d see Ella’s first taste of cherries. Half a pint, one bite from each berry (so careful to leave the pit attached to the stem and the uneaten half of each)…
For dinner she had “spicy beans” (channa masala) and they were indeed very spicy, so she would take a bite, stick out her tongue and say “owie” but then proceed to eat the rest of the mouthful and take another! She is growing up! She will be out-eating Peter in the spice department by the time she’s 2.
I’d also post a picture of my work-in-progress Knoblauch-Rock from a Farbenmix Pattern. I’m stuck trying to figure out how to finish the hem. There were no instructions on finishing, and I see that it would have been beautiful as a fully faced hem band, but alas, I’ve already french seamed all the (many) panels. I’m also not entirely certain that I even like this pattern (from an eBook I purchased) but we’ll see once I figure out how to hem it and finally add the adorable pockets. It’s made from Annamaria Horner’s Chocolate Lollipop fabrics to coordinate with this blouse that I made Ella and her friend, C.
I missed my own personal deadline of getting my etsy shop up and running by June 1. I hate missing my own deadlines. I did, however, manage to purchase some MORE fabric,and am happy to share (now that I have mine already purchased) that JoAnn Fabrics has their lovely linens at 60% off!
Ella’s sleeping in her own bed again! (insert mixed emotion of your choice here, I’m sure it will apply.) SO, I should get to sleep in mine. Photos and more sewing tomorrow.
