The Odds

It's been a weird day. It started out normal enough. I mean, Ginger had a meltdown to end all meltdowns in the morning, but that's pretty typical lately. At around 12:30, I let the dog out. Then at 12:45, I called her in. Only, she didn't come. Our little Gracie had made a break for it. I calmly (ha!) called Curly, and he left work to help me look. We found Gracie about the same time the nice police officer did. If a dog could look confused, she certainly did. 

So then, Gracie placed safely in her cage, I headed out with Ginger to attend a highly anticipated 401K seminar with Curly. Total miscommunication, because he thought I was getting a sitter and I did not. Ginger was asleep when we got there, so Curly and I ate lunch with Ginger snoozing on my lap. She woke up in time to eat some cake with me. Curly went into the seminar alone.

After that, we went over to the school to pick up the kids. Mini-me came out sobbing. Her class had taken caterpillars and turned them into butterflies. Today was the day to release them. Mini-me was excited to finally hold a butterfly. No one told the butterflies, and they all flew off before she could hold one. And then, AND THEN, I forgot her awards assembly where she received an award for academic achievement. I will not be getting the "Mother of the Year" award.

Hopeful that the day would turn around, I picked up Flower and a babysitter. Curly and I took Flower to see The Hunger Games. We've all read the book and were so excited for the movie. See how happy we are:

 About an hour into the movie, as Katniss is about to enter the arena, the fire alarm goes off and they evacuate the theater. We wait for about 15 minutes, only to be told that they will not be starting the movie again and we'll have to come back. Flower sobbed the entire way home. As they say in Panem, the odds were not in our favor.

We came home to a fantastic babysitter who picks up the house. She is worth every penny. The kids just love her. I told her she could move in. She laughed at me, but I think that means she wants to.

And now, I shot of some quilting:

It's a quilt using "Fly a Kite" from Riley Blake. I did a loopy meandering stitch, which looked like string, so I decided to end it with a little kite on every row. Cute, no?

The Source

Thanks to the help of my very tall brother in law, we located the source of the flood. We were able to borrow a machine, and did the work ourselves. So, it was a pretty inexpensive fix. You don't even want to know what it was. You just don't. Let's just say that I'll be spending most of the day with bleach.

I'm so glad I ordered my reward over the weekend. I just knew I'd deserve it.

I didn't order it from the Fat Quarter Shop, though. I ordered mine from Julie and from an etsy shop.

Onto scrubbing.

It Happened Again

Yesterday afternoon I laid down for a wee nap. I was so tired, but the others in the house didn't think I should sleep. What I hoped would be a good hour ended up only being about 15 minutes. But in that short time, I had a very vivid dream that our basement flooded again. It flooded so much that we decided to take everything out of it. I became a homeless sewist. It was sad.

This is the part where I tell you I'm prophetic. When I went downstairs to change the laundry, there was water. Not a ton, but quite a bit. I thought at first that someone left the freezer door ajar, allowing for some defrost. It's happened before. Finally, at 1:30 am, I had my answer. It was the washer. It leaks on the final cycle. I am relieved to know the source, but I am a little concerned about the solution. How long will I be without a washer? Will this be expensive? I hope the answers are: not long and nope.

I'm hoping to get some sewing done today. Wouldn't that be great? Hope your weekend is going better than mine!

What Else?

In high school, I loved math. I realize that admitting that makes me a huge nerd. And not even a hipster nerd. Just a regular one. I had two math teachers who I adored. One was Mrs. Rogers. She was from England. Her harsh exterior belied a fluffy heart. She helped me earn a 4 on the AP Calculus exam. The second was Mrs. McLaughlin. She was from New England. She helped me master geometry, a must for any quilter. She was the one who would look at me when I was completely stumped and say, "What else do you know about this problem?" In an instant, I could see the problem from a different angle and attack it a different way.

I have thought about this advice a lot since the 10th grade. I no longer need to figure out the velocity of a falling ball, or the parabolic curve and whether it's up or down. But I still have problems that need solving. I find myself asking, "What else do I know about this problem?" when I become stumped.

Yesterday I wrote that I was feeling blue. I still don't know exactly the root of my malaise, but I do know that I need to snap out of it. So what else do I know about being blue, if I don't know what causes it? I know that I tend to hibernate when I'm down. Solution? Take the kids to the park after school, leave my book at home, and chat up my fellow moms for nearly 2 hours while soaking up some sun. I know that I tend to become sedentary when I'm blue. Solution? Simple physics: an object in motion tends to stay in motion. So I get moving. I go to the gym, I fold some laundry, I go down and sew.

Also, it's important to remember that life is full of humor.

Whoa

I took a little break, didn't I? I certainly didn't intend for that to happen. I've been keeping myself plenty busy around here. You know, doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We've been having some fabulous weather. Today I opened the windows and turned off the heat. It's been a delightful day.

I've been feeling a little blue as of late. I'm not sure what's brought it on. It's not like it's been cold and dreary. I think I am just ready for spring. And maybe a vacation. Anyone want to take me on a trip?

I am working on a quilt that is almost done. And then I have another one in the wings. And then I have a craft show in May. Busy times! No time to wallow. Time to get to work!

Ryan Gosling

I think we can all operate under the assumption that Ryan Gosling is a total babe. Did you know I've met him? I'm pretty sure it ranks up there in the top 5 most memorable moments of his life. I was wearing a plaid jumper at the time. Really, who can forget a thing like that? Apparently not me. The recent movement to post pictures of him with a phrase starting with, "Hey girl," is I think my favorite thing I have seen online in a long time. That includes pinterest, folks. I thought I would share this in honor of National Craft Month:

Go here to see some more.

You're welcome.

Second Quilt of 2012

I delivered this quilt yesterday:

It was a commissioned quilt made up of my customer's husband's button-down shirts. Because the shirts were all light blue, some with stripes, some plain, I added some darker fabrics for some contrast. Emily loved it. She's giving it to her husband tomorrow for his 40th birthday.

I had a few blocks left over, so I made a pillow sham.

I am right on track for my 12 in '12 goal. Hooray for me! Today I am snuggling with a sick baby. Curly was taking her and Patch to the Y yesterday while I took Mini-me to piano. I got a call before I got to the lesson saying they walked into the building and Ginger barfed. She was feeling fine before that. She was sick a few more times last night and has a fever. I did get her to take some medicine, which is a miracle. I gave her two tablets and she said "Oooh! Candy!" Not quite, but at least she ate it.

Today I also have a parent-teacher conference with Mini-me's teacher. Apparently Mini-me likes to chat instead of doing her work during class. Shocking, I know. I'm not quite sure what I can do about it, since it happens when I'm not around, but I'm sure the teacher will have plenty of ideas.