I Can't Believe I Forgot....

to take a tote with me when I went to the library. I mean, come on, I make them and sell them, I have 8 I have received as gifts or just acquired. You would think I would have them in every vehicle, at every door...just tons at my disposal. Nope.

Took the kids to the library today.....they each got 3 books, I got 6 books and was trying to navigate the busy downtown one way streets, the derelicts in the park across the street from the library, my books, the kids books and the kids. What a stressful 5 minutes from the library to the car.

I hope I'm never that forgetful again.

What a Day

We are out of school and still trying to figure out our "presummer" schedule. Not going as smoothly as I had hoped. Per usual, I'm not budgeting enough time for everything. My plan is to get up, put in a load of luandry, eat breakfast, read the paper, spend 15 minutes cleaning up breakfast and other miscellaneous straightening in the kitchen, then go upstairs, get dressed, make beds, brush teeth and hair...then do the day.

We did all that, then took out the kitchen scraps, turned the composter a few times, watered our poor thirsty Bachelor Button, Sunflower, Pumpkin and Gourd seedlings, folded a load of laundry, hung the wet laundry, grabbed our list of things we needed to do and headed out the door......2 hours after we got up!

I have decided to institute tickets to my children. They are going to start with 5 each in the morning. For every behavioral problem, they lose a ticket. For every wonderful thing, over and above the normal, they get a ticket. Tickets can be used for lots of things...one ticket can be used for 15 minutes of stories, 15 minutes of TV, or a board game or puzzle. We shall see! Of course, this all will depend on my being able to keep these tickets straight!

We have also been doing random 10 item clean ups throughout the day.....I'll just say pick up 10 things...we all do it, it takes 2 minutes and tends to keep the clutter at bay. We even headed into the dark abyss of the cellar, where the mountain of bags, backpacks, shoes, jackets and miscellaneous crap creates quite the challenge.......3 minutes and it made a difference!

Another Crazy Description

I've created something new and wrote a silly description....

Stovington Wellesley Hadley, known as Wells, was known for three things....first being the youngest lawyer ever to make partner at Biddle, Carson and Delaney, secondly, his twohanded backhand and lastly, the fact that he was always perfectly dressed. No one had ever seen him even unbutton his suit coat. Ever.

The reason for the first was graduating top 5 from Georgetown Law. The reason for the second was practice. Lots and lots of practice. The reason for the third, well......all through his years at Phillips Exeter Academy, amid all the lacrosse and crew, he had a secret wish.

All through his undergrad at Yale, pledging the fraternity, spending a year abroad in Europe, he had a secret wish.

Clerking part time through law school, spending lots of time on Capitol Hill, he had a secret wish.

Spending summers at the country club, whether on the tennis courts or in the bar, he had a secret wish.

Making partner, getting married, purchasing his brand new Mercedes, he had a secret wish.

He had always wanted to be one of the Bee Gees. This was not something he shared with a soul. Not his prep school roommate, his nanny, or his wife.

All throughout meetings, trials, depositions, Wells looked very preppy and conservative. No one knew he was secretly indulging his fantasy by wearing his Boogie Fever belt. He could think about strobe lights, spandex and Stayin' Alive all day long and no one would be the wiser.

What's your secret fantasy?

What a Day

Last night my daughter had her preschool graduation. She is going to be starting public kindergarten this fall. Today, my son had his musical celebration. Then, we went out for lunch. Rather emotional few days.....my babies are growing up, they won't see many of these kids again, some will be in junior high, some in high school together. The teachers are amazing, I will miss their help and guidance.

So, today, kids are tired, it's chilly and sprinkling off and on so I decide to go make a bathing suit. Can't find my elastic looking swimsuit elastic, I just have the clear swimsuit elastic, or so the package says. In reality, I have clear devil spawn. This elastic is so slippery it shifts when you try and sew the ends together with the machine, I tried hand sewing, it splits.

I hunted high and low in the sewing room for the other elastic. Can't find it. Found everything else that I've bought twice (or more) because I can't find it. I decided sewing is not in the cards today. We are playing board games and doing puzzles.

I'll try again tomorrow.

On the Edge

I've been trying to create something new for each store, each day. I've been trying to post something on my blog every day. I'm trying to get pictures organized and on flickr. I had to get teacher gifts done for both kids. I got the teachers gifts done and delivered today. My daughter's last day of school is today. She has her musical celebration tonight. My son had his last day of school yesterday. His celebration is tomorrow morning. I think, tonight, I'm just going to go to bed. I have been averaging about 5 hours sleep a night for far too long.

I'll play with the kids, putter in the gardens, avoid housework at all costs...but instead of staying up til all hours sewing, photographing and listing, I'm just going to take a few days off, sew when I can and start fresh next week. It is a holiday weekend, after all.........

Indecisive

Usually, I come up with an idea and look through my fabric stash and create something unique...or I see some fabric and it inspires me to turn it into something wonderful. This one particular piece of fabric has been annoyingly silent since it arrived. I like it, but it doesn't offer any suggestions and it's been really bugging me.

Now, as most of you creative types are well aware, supplies can take over your entire house. My fabric is oozing out of my sewing room, across the hall and is getting alarmingly close to my daughter's bedroom door. I decided I need to start creating with what I have rather than continually buying more really neat fabric (and no, it's not working. At all)

So, I spent a week staring at this fabric, keeping it in a ziplock bag while out and about, just in case. Still nothing. Disgusted, I tossed the bag on the cutting, ahem, dining table and it zipped right across the table and fell into a tub of fabric. Right on top was the nylon fabric I use for waterproof lining. The colors of the fabric looked good against the black of the lining. I knew I had a beige zipper in my zipper box.....how about a waterpoof lined pouch? Or should I wait and dig through ALL of my fabric and make a tote with it, a beer quilt, coasters?

I got disgusted with my self and just started cutting. I created a lovely pouch. I'm still not sure if that's what the fabric was supposed to be, though.

Giving My Other Shop Some Attention

For the past 2 days, I've been blogging about my silly little descriptions in my etsy shop, pandys. I also have another shop, GriffinGear. That one is apparel for boys.....I don't like the boys clothes now...too casual, too much camoflage and too much writing and advertising on everything.

So, I've started with fleece and flannel last fall, now I'm working on T shirts, hats, shorts, lightweight pants and shorts, and boys bags. Stay tuned......

More New Things and Creative Writing

I made some coasters for the season....Flag Themed....and had this funny little story going through my head....read on for the adventures of Uncle Stuart....and my goal of blogging EVERY day.

She opened her mailbox and saw the package from Pandys of Lake Sunapee. Ripping the envelope open, she grabbed the coasters and practically hugged them. Yes, Yes, Yes, she said, then looked around quickly to make sure no one had heard her.

Uncle Stuart, she thought to herself as she shook her head. She knew everyone had an Uncle Stuart, and all of her friends thought he was hilarious. He was in his late 60's but was so proud of his "summer car", a black Trans Am with the gold bird on the hood, just like the one in Smokey and the Bandit...complete with 8 track player. Yes, the car WAS in pristine condition, however....add in the white shoes, the polyester shirt with the flag print (thank God he had started buttoning the top 3 buttons in the last few years) and the ever present Binaca breath spray in his shirt pocket, and, well.......

Last year, at the Memorial Day cookout, Uncle Stuart had had a few too many and thought tossing her marble coasters into the pool for the kids to dive for would be a great game. Somehow, a wine glass ended up in the pool, too. Then on the Fourth of July, it had rained and the party was inside. Uncle Stuart had managed to push his coaster across her new alder dining table so hard it took 3 hours of sanding and 4 coats of urethane to repair the damage.

This year, she was taking no chances....the listing said the coasters were unbreakable, scratch proof and relatively safe as flying objects...they were considered kid proof. She just hoped they were Uncle Stuart proof.

New Things

I'm going to try and start keeping this blog more updated. I've been creating new items for both shops, and in my pandys shop, my new thing is very creative descriptions. I had a great time thinking up the story for my Wild in the Street Market tote....

She glanced at her watch nervously. Come on, come on she mumbled under her breath at the cars on the street. Seeing an opening, she bolted across 2 lanes of traffic to the farmers market. Her new boyfriend was going to be at her apartment in 30 minutes. She was cooking him dinner for the first time...and was running VERY late.

She walked up and down the aisles, checking each vendor's wares. She picked up some romaine and red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, onions.....further down, she added a nice loaf of poppy seed bread, a large bunch of celery and some strawberries. Okay, she thought, I can get home before he gets there. Grabbing a fresh squeezed lemonade, she hurried home. Not thinking, she tossed her empty cup into her Market Tote by Pandys of Lake Sunapee. The lemonade was gone, but the bottom of the cup was full of ice.

She ran up the stairs, unlocked the door and put her bags on the counter. She pulled out the vegetables and fruit. As she pulled out the loaf of bread, she realized the bag had ripped. Crumbs and poppyseeds littered the bottom of the bag. She then saw the lemonade cup on its side, the now melted ice slowly seeping across the bottom of the bag.

The doorbell rang. He was here. What to do? She quickly grabbed a towel and wiped out the bottom of the bag. Crumbs and water disappeared instantly. Hanging the bag on the rack next to the door, she smoothed her hair, took a deep breath, and with a shaky hand, reached for the door knob............................

and now that it's sold, I need to make a different one and come up with Chapter 2. Feel free to check out my shop for more descriptions...if nothing else, they should make you smile.