Food Hoarder

Please forgive the long post. This has been on my mind and writing usually helps me figure things out. I welcome your input as well. :)

I'm trying to figure out my relationship with food. I don't mean in a diet way, like food for comfort or food as the enemy. I've got that figured out and feel that I have a pretty healthy diet psyche, thank you very much.

No, it's food storage and gardening and home canning that I'm trying to figure out. Sure, I'm Mormon, so all those things have been important my whole life. But the mystery is why I have such an emotional connection to it all. I mean, nothing makes me happier and feel more secure than a full pantry and a full fridge. It's a deep, to-the-core thrill, yet somehow it never feels like enough.

My sister introduced me to a book that totally feeds that need: How to Grow More Vegetables... Sure there are lots of chapters on soil prep and composting and all that, but the chapter that takes my breath away is the one with sample garden plans for a year-round garden that will supply all of your food needs for a year. I study those diagrams with glee and fantasize about the mini farm I'll have one day, when I add chickens and beehives and maybe a few goats to the mix. It really wouldn't take that much land, except for the goats. It thrills me to think of buying and filling a chest freezer and basement shelves with summer produce and using it all winter.

Yes, I know that this plan requires a great deal of dirty work, both in the gardening and the canning and freezing. But it's work I want to do, and it's the kind of work that makes me feel competent and human and alive.

But gardening and canning aside, I'm also feeling more urgent about a basic year's supply of staples and a three-month supply of standard meals. I get the same feeling about my savings accounts, and I'm having major conflict at the thought of pulling money from savings to buy food storage. Which is more important right now? Which will make me feel more secure--the food or the money?

What I'm trying to figure out is my motivation for all this. Several people I know who have a lot of food storage are preparing for "the big one," a major disaster or food shortage or political uprising. I'm not really concerned about those things. I mean, if the fault line we're sitting on goes active, our foundationless 100-year-old house and all the food storage in it will be reduced to a pile of sticks and rubble in two seconds flat. And I have no desire to move out to the middle of nowhere and start stockpiling guns to keep marauders at bay.

And it's not like I ever went hungry growing up. There were a lot of us, and there were never enough mashed potatoes no matter how huge a bowl of them my mom brought to the table (we really like mashed potatoes), but we always had enough to eat. So that's not it.

What do you think it is?

"Hunger" is not a four-letter word

I've been hungry lately. Constantly hungry. But I'm ok with that. It's a strange feeling. Let me explain.

I am trying to lose weight, but I don't believe in diets. Diets mean self-deprivation, which for me means setting myself up for failure. So I don't diet. I just eat less and exercise more, and so far it's been working.

But lately my appetite has been going crazy. I eat breakfast, and I'm still hungry. I eat a good lunch, and I'm still hungry. I have a snack, and I'm still hungry. I have dinner... you get the idea. The odd part is I can't think of anything else I want to eat. Sure, I could go eat another bowl of Cheerios right now. Or a peanutty granola bar. Or even potato chips and ranch dip. Nothing's stopping me, and it's all in my kitchen right now. I'm not counting points or limiting carbs or anything. But instead here I sit, hungry. And I don't mind. I just don't want those things right now. And I don't think they'd make the hunger go away. At least not for very long. And I'd rather be a little hungry than overfull and bloated.

This is an odd thing in my history, and quite revolutionary. Part of me hopes this is a permanent thing, and another part wonders how long it will last before I go back to eating everything in sight. We'll see.

I have a theory

("...that it's a demon. A dancing demon! No, something isn't right there.")

Ok, maybe less of a theory than a realization. Here's the background: I have two pairs of pants that, according to the tags, are the same size. But one is uncomfortably snug around the waist while the other literally falls down so bad I need a belt. I haven't needed a belt since high school, if even then. Very frustrating, this discrepancy in sizing.

And then just this week I figured out the difference. One is meant to sit at my waist, while the other is meant to sit on my hips. I carry most of my weight in my belly, and I've been losing weight in my hips and butt. So even though the hip pants ride across the peak of my belly, that circumference is still smaller than the hip/butt circumference of average woman my size. So the pants sag and slip. But I haven't been losing much in my waist, so the waist pants are still snug.

That, and every brand interprets sizing differently. Even so, I think I'll be shopping at Old Navy more, which is where the hip pants came from. I know size is just a number, but right now my ego could use some smaller numbers.

I don't know why anyone would care about this, but I felt the need to share. Enjoy. :)

"Wooka wooka BY-dee"

This is Atty's new all-purpose phrase. He says it and sings it all day, sometimes shortening it to "g'BY-dee" or just "wooka wooka". I have no idea what it means, but it obviously means something to him. Sometimes he'll be babbling and singing and start laughing all of a sudden, as though he'd just said something funny. I laugh with him because he's just so dang cute, so maybe he thinks I understand him. I wish I did. There's a lot going on in that little brain of his, and it would be fascinating to tap into it and understand his view of the world.

He's at the stage where he's figuring out the boundaries and limits of his world, and it can be so frustrating for both of us sometimes. What happens if I pull on this chair? Mom said "no" last time I banged on the glass door with a stick; what will she say if I do it again? Or with a toy? Or with this other toy? Look at me! I climbed onto the coffee table! Yikes! How do I get down?!

This boy is definitely an explorer. He'll play with toys, but his favorite thing to do it just walk around and check out the place. He LOVES to run outside. Last night he walked around the whole block with James. He'll run up driveways so he can run back down on the slope, and he loves climbing our neighbor's stairs. He'll stop to pick up sticks or leaves or poke at dirt, but mostly he loves to run. He gets so mad when we bring him back inside, and he gets so bored in our apartment. This kid really needs a back yard and things to climb on. One day we'll have that. For now he'll have to make do with the coffee table and the sidewalk.

July is family visit month, Part 1: Adam

When my visiting teacher Chalee (cute girl in picture below) found out that my brother works for the show "So You Think You Can Dance," her first question was, "Can he get us tickets??" Because she can fly free and get me a buddy pass. So I asked, and sure enough, he could. So Chalee and I hopped on a plane and spent the day in LA with my bro. (If you look close in the picture above, you can see the Hollywood sign on the hill behind us.) Oh, and the shirt Adam's wearing is left over from Adam Lambert's wardrobe on American Idol. The boy has connections. :)

We didn't need to be at the show until 5:30, so we did checked out the Chinese theater and walk of fame (avoiding the crowd at Michael Jackson's star). Adam needed to pick up his credentials for the ESPN awards at the Nokia theater, where he was going to work coordinating the seat-fillers the next day, so we got a backstage tour and got to check out the stage and dress rehearsals. Not that any of us cares about sports or ESPN, but it was still pretty cool.

When we got to the CBS studios, we met up with Adam's partner, Thaddeus, who was working (they both work for SYTYCD, but Adam had the day off). We got to meet their friends and bypass the line and metal detectors, and they took us to our seats. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but Chalee got a shot of the stage before they told us to turn off our cell phones. (The people around us wondered why they hadn't been confiscated like everyone else's.)

The stage and studio look a lot bigger on TV, which shouldn't be surprising but still is somehow. But that means we had great seats, even though we were toward the back of the bleachers. The bleachers don't get on camera very often, but it was a heckuva lot more comfortable than being in the "mosh pit," where you have to stand the whole time. Backstage info: the cute girls in front of the judges' table and along the edges of the stage and up on the platforms above the stage come from an agency. They probably don't get paid, but they get to be on camera. And they have to be sure they're really into the show and cheering a lot, or they get talked to about it.

Speaking of cheering, we did a lot of it. The show isn't live, and it took about three hours to tape. So before any of the "talent" came out, they took all the audience shots: clapping and cheering, clapping without cheering, cheering while people held up signs, etc. I was almost tired of cheering before the show even started. But the show didn't disappoint, and I was thrilled to be watching it in person. (I won't bore you with details of the show; if you're a fan, you watched it, and you know it was great.)

After the show Thaddeus joined us and we went out to dinner at their favorite Thai place. We were also celebrating Adam's birthday a day early. The food was great, and Thaddeus filled us in on all the backstage gossip: Mary's high-maintenance but loves Thaddeus; Nigel is friendly and low-key and gets his own food; Kupono's a diva with special food requests (Thaddeus does all the grocery shopping for the contestants); Jason and Janean are dating (no surprise after their steamy dance together). The stress level among the contestants dropped when it came down to the top 10, because if you're in the top 10, you're in the tour, which means you'll get $100K and have a steady gig for a year. So even if you get eliminated, you're set. So don't feel too bad for anyone who gets eliminated anymore.

After dinner we hung out at their apartment for a bit, but then Chalee and I had to get back to our hotel and sleep, because we had to be up at 4:30 to try to catch the 7:15 flight home. Here's a family picture of Adam, Thaddeus, and the kitties (Simon didn't want to cooperate).

So while I wouldn't call this trip relaxing, we had a great time. It was fun to see the show, but even more fun to hang out with my brother and Thaddeus again. They plan to work for the show for season 6, so maybe we'll get to do it again. :)

Nana!

We were happy to have James's mom and her husband come visit us the first week of June. (So sorry it's taken me this long to post! I plan to make up for my absence with a few posts this week.)

Atty wasn't sure what to think of our visitors at first. When they first walked in, he looked at them, then at us, and burst out crying. He must have thought we were leaving without him. Once he realized we were staying, though, he started to warm up.

By the end of their visit, Atty and Nana were good buddies. She'd chase him around the chair, and he'd squeal and run away but then run back so she could catch him and give him loves. Nana got some pretty juicy kisses from that boy.

He was sad to see them go, and so were we.

Can he get any cuter?

You'll want to turn up the volume.

Bean update

Ok, I've eaten a few servings of the bean recipe from my previous post, and I'm leaning toward leaving out the sherry next time. Or at least using half as much.

But dang, those toppings make this dish irresistable. I crave those roasted sweet potatoes fortnightly....

So this is definitely a keeper.

My mind is officially blown

Cooking with dried beans is for me a little like cooking a souffle: it's fussy and easy to mess up. And when you mess up, it's not likely you'll be able to salvage it. I've had enough experiences with crunchy beans and bland beans to be a little wary.

So when I decided to try this recipe, I got more than a little nervous. Did it really say NOT to soak the beans? I read the recipe three times and even had James look it over to make sure I wasn't missing something. Doesn't the author know that soaking beans before cooking is a cardinal rule of bean cookery? How can he just disregard rule #1? But I have learned to follow recipes carefully the first time through, so I took the leap of faith (I did buy a second bag of beans just in case the first batch failed miserably--I'm trusting but not stupid).

I tried the recipe this morning, and it actually worked just like it said it would. The beans were soft after 1 1/2 hours, but I let them cook another half hour just to get a little creamier. I'm not sure I'm going to like the addition of sherry, but it does say the flavor is better after 8 hours, so we'll try them tomorrow before making a final judgment.

If cooking beans turns out to be this easy all the time, I may just have to make this a weekly habit. I'm not holding my breath, though. :)

A new favorite

I made this for dinner yesterday, and it was fantastic. I'm getting hungry again just looking at the picture. (I didn't take that picture, I borrowed it from gourmet.com). It's curried red-lentil stew with vegetables, served over basmati rice and with roasted cauliflower on the side. You can get the recipes here.

I didn't make the cumin/red pepper oil to drizzle on top, but I didn't miss it. The best part is it freezes really well before you add the green veggies, so it's two meals in one. Or more than two: even with just half the recipe, James and I both had seconds and still had some left over. Oh, and it really is better the next day. I purposely made the base a day early to let it mellow, and I could totally tell a difference.

I thought the curry was a little strong in just the stew, but once you put it over the rice it balances out nicely. And the roasted cauliflower was really good. I think roasting is my new way to cook veggies. I made roasted asparagus for Easter, and it was divine. I don't think I'll ever eat steamed cauliflower again.

If I ever have a daughter, I'm totally making this dress for her

You can buy it here.

Grapefruit? Really?

In addition to diet and exercise, I started taking prescription drugs about a week ago to help lower my cholesterol. But just a couple days ago I noticed a warning on the bottle I hadn't seen before: "Do not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice at any time while taking this medication."

I laughed out loud. Grapefruit? What could be wrong with grapfruit? And wouldn't you know it, I'd just bought grapefruit a few days before.

So I looked it up online and apparently grapefruit interacts with the enzymes that break down the medication, which can lead to potentially toxic buildup of the drugs in your body. There's no evidence that any other citrus fruit has the same reaction.

So, um, anybody want a free grapefruit?

Food Storage Made Easy!

I subscribe to this website that sends out "baby step" checklists to help you set up your 3-month and 1-year food storage, and now they've created what looks like a very usable workbook to help people like me keep everything organized. (My organization tends to look like random stacks of paper.) The 100-page PDF will be available for purchase ($17) on Thursday, but they're giving away 10 copies to people who help spread the word. So here I am. :)

The image above links to info about the binder and giveaway, and the sidebar on the left outlines their plans and baby steps. Check it out sometime. :)

Who knew low-fat could taste this good??

So I'm following Dr. Dean Ornish's super-low-fat plan for a month to try to get my cholesterol in check, and I thought it would be much more painful than this. We've had some hits and misses, but the hits have been dang tasty. Like this red-pepper coulis:

2 small red peppers, cored, seeded, and diced
1 med. tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced (I used canned tomatoes with roasted garlic & onion)
1/2 large onion, diced
1 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 c chopped basil (I used 2-3 tsp. dried)
Pinch of dried thyme

In a medium skillet, combine the red pepper, tomato, onion, and veg stock and cook until veggies are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the basil and thyme. Puree in a blender (I left it a little chunky) and pour back into a clean skillet. Reduce until about 1 1/2 cups remain.

I made this to go with some labor-intensive veggie cakes (not quite a hit, but close), and it was pretty good. But then I added plain nonfat yogurt to the leftovers, and it became FANTASTIC. The yogurt mellowed and blended all the flavors and elevated it to something I want to have in my fridge at all times. Seriously. I would have included a photo but I ate it all before I got around to taking a picture.

I put it on rice, on salad, in a veggie wrap, and it was fantastic in all of them. The only drawback is that veggie broth is ridiculously high in sodium, so maybe when I make it again I'll use reduced-sodium chicken broth and trade some of that sodium for a trace of fat.

If you make it, let me know what you think.

My excuse for not posting more often...

"Oh, I love technology..."

Breaking barriers

Ok, that title sounds like I just won the nobel prize or something, but all I did was lose a few pounds. But oh how significant those pounds!

I'm going to break Woman Rule #1 and tell you how much I weigh/weighed: right before I got pregnant, I weighed about 190. This was the heaviest I'd ever been, a number I swore I'd never reach. Luckily I didn't gain a whole lot with pregnancy: my highest was about 205. But for a couple years before then I was in the 180s: sometimes high, sometimes low. I went on Weight Watchers a couple times and had some success, but I just couldn't get below 170. And after weeks of hovering at 170.2, 170.4, 170.0, I'd give up.

SO...imagine my delight when I stepped on the scale yesterday and saw 168! Woo hoo! I haven't seen the 160s for years! And I hope not to stay here long. I have 33 more pounds to lose before I hit my target weight of 135. That's toward the top of my healthy range, but it's a weight I think I can maintain. And considering that I weighed about 150 when I got married, it's a long time coming. I have no need to be a size 2 or to have ripped abs or Michelle Obama arms. But I want to be healthy, I want to be more active, and I want to be stronger.

And I just bought a sewing book that has cute skirts and dresses I want to make and look good in. It always comes back to vanity, doesn't it?

Anyway, I just had to share my success. And I'm going to need a lot of support to lose the rest of the weight, so I hope you don't mind if I post periodically about my progress.

Possibly the coolest cover art ever

I like lots of music, but Neko Case is consistently fabulous. Her new album is no exception, and it only improves on multiple listenings. Like all of her music, it is best listened to over and over again on headphones. Or live, of course. She was Atty's first concert when she was here last summer, and the time before that I was at the front of the stage, literally staring up her nose. She is coming again in May as part of the Red Butte Concert Series, but of course it's on a Sunday. Maybe I'll have to make do with some good headphones and the volume up high.

Atty's 1st Birthday

He didn't really know what all the fuss was about. But he had fun squishing whipped-cream frosting through his fingers. (His hair isn't really as red as it appears in these photos. Maybe someday...)


I love this picture. He looks more like a little boy and less like a baby. Ok, that makes me the tiniest bit sad, because that means he's growing up, but I love love love watching him grow and learn new things and discover the world around him.



Because it was Pi Day (3.14), we celebrated at the Pie with my mom, my sister Erin, and our friends Brook and Linwood Biddulph. We considered (briefly) throwing a big party, but we figured Atty wouldn't know the difference and might get overwhelmed by a crowd.

Here's a video of him playing with his cake. He wasn't sure what to do with it, but he seemed to enjoy himself regardless. And check out the vintage high chair James found at DI. We think it's pretty groovy.

It was a good day. We love having this little boy around. It still blows my mind that we have a son. How did we get so blessed?

One year ago today....

...was the day my little Atticus was born. I'm sorry to say that it was not a happy day. Right now it is 10:24 p.m. One year ago this minute I was on morphine, our sweet little boy was on a ventillator, and James was feeling lost in between us. It was two more days before I was allowed to leave my bed long enough to go see my tiny son, and another day before I could hold him.

I wanted so much for his arrival in this world to be a happier event. I ached to hold him and rock him and kiss his sweet head. I wanted him to sleep next to me so I could listen to him breathe, and hold him on my chest so he could hear my heart.

And although I will freely admit the blessings we all received during this difficult time and the unforseen benefits of Atty's hospital time, I so so so wished it to be different.

But tonight I rocked him to sleep and kissed his sweet head and told him how wonderful he is and how happy I am that he's here. Tonight I got to do what I missed out on a year ago. Tonight I get to listen to him breathe in his sleep and marvel at how absolutely beautiful he is.

I'll post about today's festivities tomorrow. Tonight I just want to bask in the wonder of our son, our sweet Atticus, and how far he's come. We love you, little boy, more than you will ever know. You are the treasure of our lives.

The boy likes beans

He's not so fond of cereal and vegetables. Strained carrots are ok, but to get him to eat barley cereal and peas I had to make him laugh to get him to open his mouth so I could sneak the spoon in. Today he caught on and figured out how to laugh with tight lips.

But man, sit down on the couch with a bowl of beans, and he's all over you. Last week James and I had chili beans and cornbread for dinner, and Atty came begging. So I gave him half a bean (sauce sucked off), and he kept asking for more. Once I was too slow so he started yelling. Then today I had curried lentils and rice for lunch (so yummy and soooo easy!), and he came begging again (this was after the tight-lip feeding debacle). I thought the curry would be too spicy for him, but he didn't even seem to notice. He wouldn't leave me alone until it was all gone.

I loved seeing his little happy face with curry sauce around his mouth. I think for his dinner tonight I'll skip the cereal and open a can of beans. :)

Atty Photos of the Week

It has been impossible to get a picture of Atticus's teeth. He just cut his fifth one recently, and his desire to gnaw on things has never been greater. Still, he gets really coy and sheepish when you bring out the camera and aim for his mouth. It is like the teeth retract. The shot normally ends up like this:




But at last, with the help of a cell phone camera, we now have evidence that our boy is no longer toothless. Sorry the image is a little grainy, but when you're dealing with something as elusive as a sasquatch, you take what you can get.

I really want this book. Really really.

Just wanted to let you know in case someone felt inclined to buy it for me. (*cough*mybirthday'sintwoweeks*cough*) Yes, I really am that shameless.

Rejection Dejection

I applied to sell some of my goods at the spring Beehive Bazaar, and I was rejected. Or should I say "not accepted." Doesn't sound quite as painful that way. Not that I'm heartbroken over it or anything. It would have been a lot of work to get enough product ready, and I would have had to spend more money than I wanted to buy supplies. But it would have been fun. I like making little birds. Here's what I was hoping to sell:

Birdie Mobiles

These are the same style birds I made for Atty's mobile (still not assembled), but without the embroidery. For Atty's mobile I want to use an interesting stick, like maybe curly willow, instead of beaded wire for the frame. And maybe I'll add some felt leaves. Maybe that will be my project this weekend.

Birdie Ornaments

I really like these little birds. I want to get a bare tree branch on a stand and hang them from it, again with some felt leaves. And maybe a little nest. Who knows.

I plan to put these up in my Etsy shop soon, with the option of personalization. I've also made some smaller versions of the ornaments above as pins. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but they have words on them and will come with corresponding quotes. So the one that says "hope" will come with the lines "hope is the thing with feathers / that perches in the soul" from Emily Dickenson. And the one that says "faith" will come with the quote "Faith is the bird who feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark." Once I get the packaging done for those I'll post them and let you know here.

My next projects are going to be a growth chart for Atty and more fused plastic. I got a boatload of bags from Lara and a couple other sources, so I plan to have fun with those. Whatever I make will probably end up on Etsy as well. Just don't go looking now, because I still just have my Christmas stuff up. Maybe next week. I'll let you know.

I told you he was getting fast

A Confession and a Request

I finished this bag today, and I'm really quite proud of it. It's made entirely from fused plastic shopping bags, which I then sewed together.

Here's the back (above) and the side (below).

Here's the confession: I made this for a "valentine-themed reusable grocery bag" swap, but now I think I'm going to keep it. But I feel kind of guilty because my reasoning is lame. I got mine in the mail yesterday, and it's really lame. It's a store-bought canvas bag with puff-paint hearts all over it. The woman who sent it admits she's not artistic, just crafty, and it was still fun to get something in the mail, but after putting so much thought and effort into my bag I feel kind of cheated.

I don't send my bag to the same person, so I was briefly tempted to just send the puff-paint bag to my recipient, but why spread the disappointment? But I still don't want to send her my fused-plastic creation, so I'm sending this one instead:

I had most of it already made as part of a project I abandoned a long time ago, so I just had to hem the top, put on the handles, and add the heart. It's still a nice bag, and probably more functional, but not nearly as cool as the other. Am I being totally lame by not sending the fused plastic?

Now for the request: I'm kind of addicted to fused plastic right now, and I'm running out of bags. If you're willing to part with yours, would you please save them/send them to me? I'd even reimburse you for postage. Grocery store bags work ok, and I'd be happy to get some from stores other than Albertsons, Wal-Mart, and Smiths, but the thicker bags from clothing stores or even Target work a little better. I don't want you to go out of your way or anything, and I don't want you to ask stores for unused bags. But if you happen to have some, I'd love it if you'd send them my way.

Boy on the Move

He's getting faster every day...

I may have a new addiction

Meet Gertie, my first real softie creation. I absolutely love her. Most of the fabric is recycled clothing (Kristina, do you recognize the fabric on her beak and feet?), and I got the pattern for free here. I sewed through my finger sewing on her beak (it's like a tiny shirt sleeve), so next time I'll do that part by hand. But other than that, she was easy to put together.

I knew the pattern would be cute, but I was totally unprepared for the thrill I got when I finally sewed all the pieces together and turned her right-side-out. Even without stuffing, this little goose was brought to life and had a name: Gertrude (though she prefers Gertie). I'd thought of other names, but as soon as I saw her all put together, I honestly couldn't remember what they were. I think one was Stella. But this wasn't Stella, this was Gertie.

I'd heard other stuffie artists say that each piece "tells" you what it wants to be, but I thought that was a bit too precious and cute. Now I get it.

It's been snowing here lately, so I made Gertie a bonnet and scarf. But she hates winter. Winter requires sensible shoes, and Gertie hates sensible shoes. She's a summer girl who loves color and warm breezes and fresh produce and green grass. She doesn't like parks, though, because there are usually dogs at parks and she doesn't like dogs.

I told all of this to her new owner, who lives in Bountiful. I made Gertie for a handmade swap, which was designed to celebrate handmade goods and bring awareness to proposed legislation that threatens to destroy the market for handmade toys and other children's items. The bill is intended to protect kids from products tainted with lead, but the testing requirements are so steep that smaller manufacturers that use high-quality, natural materials wouldn't be able to afford them or compete. Revisions have been proposed that would ameliorate this, but we're not in the clear yet. Learn more here.

Atticus photo of the week

Atty's getting a hang of this celery thing. James's mom used to give her teething kids celery, which I think is absolutely brilliant--it's cold and soothing on their gums, and the strings make it difficult to get a big chunk off. We tried giving him some a few weeks ago, and he made some really nasty faces. But he went for it last night.

No new teeth yet, but James thinks he can feel one coming in on the side of the two on the bottom.

Atty's been sick this week. :( Nothing serious, just an upper respiratory thing with lots of snurfles and coughing. I took him to the doctor when it sounded like the cough had moved into his lungs, but she said his lungs were clear. And he wasn't acting sick; he was just his regular happy self with a snurfly nose and a cough. So we're just waiting it out, proping him up when he sleeps to facilitate drainage. And we're in the market for a humidifier.

First Project of the Year

I made a calendar! The cross-stitch pattern came from here, but my linen was too fine to try to count the threads, so I enlarged the pattern and transferred it to the fabric with carbon paper. The fabric is 100% linen from a wrap-around jumper that never fit well. I backed it with heavy interfacing to give it some stability. The calendar is a Word template reduced to half-sheet size, then sewn to the linen with a blanket stitch. I sacrificed a wire hanger for the top, then used matching embroidery floss for the hanging loop and to attach a pencil.

I'm planning to hang this in the living room, so I wanted it to be nice and discrete while still being useful. I think I reached a good balance. It will be part of a larger organizational system that I'll blog about once I get it put together. It was a brainstorm I got in the shower (for some reason I get my best ideas in the shower), and I'm hoping it works as well as it did in my head. I'll keep you posted.

I love getting stuff in the mail

After missing out on a really cool ornament swap, I joined SwapBot, an online center for all kinds of crafty swappage. And yesterday I got two packages in the mail that made my heart flutter. One was leftover (unused) Christmas cards, and the other was a package of "blues buster" goodies meant to alleve post-holiday letdown. My giver had read my profile well and picked things she thought I'd like.

Today I'm sending off my leftover Christmas cards, plus a blues-buster package to a woman in Kansas, a chocolate bar to a woman in Seattle, and a small planner to a guy in Nevada. Last month I sent handmade bookmarks to a woman in Germany. Once I get those mailed off I can sign up for the button swap I've been watching. (You can only have 5 active swaps at a time.)

Getting all this fun mail has made me want to start writing letters again. I'm all for instant communication, but there's something romantic about a handwritten letter received in the mail.

Meilleurs Voeux!

That's "best wishes" for you, the French version of "Happy New Year." Christmas cards aren't all that popular over there, but everyone sends cards for the new year. The one on the right made me smile because it's a religeuse, a very popular pastry among French missionaries. A religeuse is a nun, and sister missionaries are soeurs religeuses, so the pastries of the same name always made us giggle. And they're dang tasty.

Anyway, I digress. This post is supposed to be about the new year...

We didn't do anything special to celebrate. We were asleep on the couch by 10, and today we went grocery shopping. Woo hoo! Oh, and we bought Atty a new car seat. It's all plush and luxurious, and Atty seems to like it. So we're happy.

I usually make New Year's resolutions, but they tend to be more stressful than they should be. So I've been thinking about other ways to make goals for this coming year. And as usual I found great ideas on the blogosphere.

My favorite isn't really a resolution, but more of a new perspective: find your superpower. Everyone has one; it's just a matter of discovering it. Like my sister Susan used to say, we are all superheroes in really, really good disguises. And of course every superpower comes with kryptonite, and it's just as important to discover what that is as well. So I've been pondering that off and on.

That blog led me to another thing to ponder: my one little word. What word encompasses my hopes for 2009? My mind tells me it's order, as in "establish a house of order" and do all things "in wisdom and order." But that doesn't feel quite right. For some reason hope keeps coming to mind. I do want to establish order in my life: develop better habits, get rid of clutter, get on top of our finances and meal planning etc. But maybe I really need more hope. I'll have to ponder a little further on that one.

Several other blogs just had lists of things they wanted to do this year. Kind of like Lena's 101 things to do in the next five years, but shorter. It's not a list of resolutions per se, just things you hope/plan to do. I don't have much of a list yet, but I can tell you what I have so far:

1. Put Atty's nursery together. We finally bought a crib, but it was out of stock so we have to wait a couple weeks for it to come in. And I'm going to put together the birdie mobile I made when I was pregnant and hang the artwork I've had for months. And move the rocking chair into his room. It will happen. This month for sure.

2. Go hiking at least once a month in the warmer months. I've always wanted to see the wildflowers at Albion Basin, and I've never been. I'll go this year.

3. Take Atty for more walks. At least once a week.

4. Learn to draw.

That's all I have so far. What are your plans for the new year?