Santa's been here !

Aspiration and hopes

I recently went to the movies with one of my friends. A girls night out kind of thing. It was her turn to pick the movie and she wanted to go see "For Colored Girls". Although I found that the movie was a great credo to the resilience of women in the worst of circumstances I also found it extremely disturbing. I'm having a very hard time viewing any movie/tv show that depicts children being hurt in any way. I found myself sobbing in the theater. As a matter of fact, if my friend had not been there, I would have left.

I know it was fiction but it does raise the question about real lives where this has happened and may still happen. My heart is aching for children that are neglected or worse hurt by the very people that should protect them at all cost. When it comes to my little bug, the idea of her being hurt in any way makes me sick. She is more precious to me than my life. I am at a point of my life where I have questions and doubts but I'm very sure nothing can change how I feel about my child. There are moments of exasperation and frustration, all parents experience those. But I know that I'm giving all the love, care, guidance and protection to make her childhood happy and safe.

I have been thinking about all this a lot, especially with Christmas right around the corner. Thinking about giving unconditional love and sense of  security to another child that needs it may be the answer to some of my questions.

All caught up!

There is a certain feeling of satisfaction when the house is clean, the dishes are done, all the laundry is washed, the shopping is done and the coffee machine is ready for the next morning. I'm right there. All caught up on chores, almost done with Christmas shopping. There are still some presents I want to make. The Christmas cards are stuffed in envelopes and will be mailed tomorrow. But yes I'm all caught up. And it feels quite good. I have to say sewing and crafting brought me a lot of peace and balance, a feeling of accomplishment, it's been a great outlet for creative energy. And the blogging part of it has been a lot of fun albeit quite time consuming. So not much to rant about. I'm a happier person than I was almost a year ago when I started this blog. That's good right ? Yep .. I'm all caught up with myself too

Adventures in the backyard

I have to share a little story because my neighbors are so awesome. We live in a townhouse built on a small hill and the back of our house faces a rather steep partly wooded slope with a small stream at the bottom. A couple of weeks ago, my husband decided that rather than tossing our halloween pumpkin in the trash it would make more sense to let nature reclaim it. So he tossed it in the slope in the compost pile. And off went his wedding band... on the wooded slope, covered with a thick coat of fallen leaves. Yikes! 

I had no idea about what had happened until I spotted him rummaging through the leaves down the slope. After a while, he sheepishly admitted what had just happened. Of course it had to happen on a Sunday evening, shortly before sundown. We both shuffled leaves until it got pretty dark. No ring. 

The next day, my husband picked up a metal detector at a local construction equipment rental place and we spend a few more hours that evening and the next one poking around. Still nothing. And then, my hubby, as he was leaving to work,  ran into Al, our next door neighbor . Al is a police office, well over 6-foot tall and a great guy with a huge heart. My hubby explained the situation and as luck would have it, Al has some experience with metal detectors so he offered to take over the search while my hubby had to work. 

That same evening, as I got home, I got greeted by Al, a big grin on his face and my hubby's wedding band in his hand. Needless to say I gave him a great big hug even though he is not the hugging type. And my hubby got him a box of cigars. Al again saved the day. I couldn't ask for a better neighbor.

Ugh

It started this Friday morning. I was woken up by the on-call phone, after assisting my colleague, I went along with my morning routine. I was having a hard time snapping out of the morning haze though. Throughout the day, I went from not great bad, and then worse. 4pm, I was shivering and I told my boss I was heading home. During the drive home (5 miles) I had to stop twice. Lunch and breakfast were not staying with me. 103 fever will do strange things to you. 

It's official

I'm an indoor plant killer...  I don't understand how I do so well in my yard and so poorly in my house.  This time around the cats did help me a bit but still...

Sorry !!
To my visitors, please do not buy me indoor plants. Or fake ones maybe. I swear I won't be offended

Of the side effects of school

This year our little bug is going to the same special program for kids that have language delays. Big change though, it's 5 afternoons a week instead of 4 mornings a week. Big change because it's more time in school, and also because until school start, my little bug still enjoyed almost daily afternoon naps. 

The results of this new schedule is quite interesting: on school nights so far at 6:30PM, 7:00PM tops, the bug clocks out. We had to reorganize the family schedule to have dinner earlier and avoid the "nose dive in the plate" or "crash and burn before putting PJs on". On the plus side, it makes for really quiet and uneventful evenings. I really can't complain except for the part where I don't get as much cuddles before bedtime. Not sure whether this is a transitional phase.  My guess is that bedtime will continue to be earlier than usual for a while. Got to fit your beauty sleep in there :) ... the whole 12 hours our bug seems to need.

Darn I'm jealous! I'm lucky when I get 6.

Fast, faster

Time flies. The summer is already fading away and I can't recall taking the time to enjoy the season. Why does it have to be that life is eaten away by work, chores and other time eating activities and there is barely anything left to breathe, take in the vision of the days and night, the color of flowers and the sparkle of the stars ? All powerful America does not believe in the value of time off. Work, work, work. And work some more. All I want is a bit more time to enjoy all of the sweet things of life.

This summer was just a blur with a few pretty images: 

Cupcakes

Strawberries

The summer festivals

The swimming pool in the backyard

Pretty in pink and looking so grown up at time

A great parade

The peaches, necklaces and bangles

Warm weather and flushed cheeks

The scooter !

The Irish princess

And the schoolgirl

How did September sneak in?

Wow. Already September !! The summer just wizzed by. It is true time flies when you are having fun. No big projects but a million small ones: master bedroom closet and window treatments, furniture shuffle in the office and hallway, finishing touches in the craft studio and the rest of the basement, lots of reorganization, weeding out old stuff. Yay. There is great satisfaction in striking items off the to-do list.

My little bug is excited to go back to school next week, especially since she will still be with the same teacher and some of her schoolmates from last year. The first week will be a bit rough though since the class will be in the afternoons this time, meaning no more naps. We are prepared for some grumpy evenings and early bedtime.

Work has been a lot less hectic the past couple of weeks. It's nice to slow the pace down a bit. It is probably going to pick up a bit until mid-November then we will hit the usual holiday slump.

Off to NY for the weekend. In the hubby's brand new car. Sweet!





- Posted from my iPhone

Spring cleaning in August

Just about 4 years ago, a friend of mine was going through a nasty separation with her husband. She ended up living in our basement for almost a year while trying to get herself back on tracks. When she left for Texas, she only took what could fit in (and on) her truck. We just pack the rest the best we could and stuffed it in the attic. Fast forward 3 years, she is back in town to haul her things. With a trailer :).

Truth be told, we are not sorry to see all those things gone soon. We live in a townhouse that was built in the 70's (read "smallish" here). Sometimes we have been very close to just haul everything to goodwill so we could move along with our lives/projects. But we didn't. And even though it was somewhat inconvenient, I'm glad we held on. She is so happy to get all those things back. She can definitely use a bit more happy in her life. 

Bedroom overhaul

This weekend, my husband and I decided to tackle a couple of overdue projects in the house. 

First step was a trip to the local Ikea store to get some curtains and curtain rods. Once back home, we happily removed the ugly metal bifold doors from the closets in our master bedroom and installed the curtains instead. It looks so much better!! Total cost of the project came under $80. Definitely cheaper than new bifold doors and way more practical since the closet are facing each other.  

Then we also tackled the window treatments. Again new rods but we kept the existing curtains and sheers for now. It looks a lot better just with this small change. 

After that, I just decided I had it with the bookshelf on the second floor landing. Sooo...we packed the books in bins, moved the bookshelf to the office, which required other pieces of furniture to be reorganized there. We ended up working hard until 1am.  Two rooms tackled in the dat. Not bad.

There is still a bit of finishing touches that I will probably tackle by next weekend but we are both happy about the outcome. I will post before and after pictures soon. 

Next up, the guest bedroom: the plan is to turn it into a big girl room for our little  bug. I already have all kinds of decoration ideas for it. Unfortunately, the first step will have to be some demo since that room needs a bit of extra insulation. I'm not looking forward to the plaster mess but it has to be done.

100th entry -

Still following ? After 100 posts? Glad I haven't bored anyone to death yet. 

Not much on the house front. The monsters have definitely left our little bug's bedroom and there has been a lot more sleep. Unfortunately the growing pains are still there. Every night I massage those poor little feet before bedtime. Hoping the doctor is right and it won't last. 

Workwise, I confess I'm more than just a bit nervous about tomorrow. I am teaching. Yikes!!. I haven't taught a class in a VERY long time - 10 years as a matter of fact. Over the  past couple of days,  I've spent a lot of hours putting a lesson plan and a handout together. You'd think I would feel ready right ? Wrong !! It's almost 1AM and I'm s till wide awake and wondering how I am going to make a class about Oracle database 101 exciting. Very glad it's only a half day of torture !!

What am I doing ?

What I'm doing:
Cook utilitarian meals
What I'd like to do ?
Cook exciting meals everyday

What I'm doing:

Work from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday

What I'd like to do ? 

Work flex time so I don't have to race from 7am to 7pm and then cram all things household on weekends

What I'm doing:

Clean,  scrub, sweep, wash 

What I'd like to do ? 

Have enough energy to exercise regularly

What I'm doing:

Toss and turns hours every night

What I'd like to do ? 

S L E E P 

Monster update

Some progress in the monster issue: since the swap from a toddler bed to a twin sized bed we are able to lay down with our little bug at bedtime to avoid big panic. That and re-iterating the monsters are all gone did help us get some sleep. Only one bad night in the last 4 days! Yay! At least we all got some decent sleep.

Summer school is over. I'm a bit worried about possible setbacks in language skills over the next few weeks. I wish I could work part time for a bit just to keep on top of things in that area. Not something my employer offers so I'll settle for crossing my fingers and taking any possible opportunity to teach new words and insist on phrases instead of pointing and grunting at things. I guess it's a mommy thing to worry all the time about your little ones.

On the rant side of things, I am totally bummed about a local decking contractor. In april I asked for a quote to have the handrail to our back deck replaced. It took 3 weeks to get as response, and once we gave our OK, we agreed this would be done the week after memorial day. Still waiting. The contractor never even bothered to respond to my last email. Time for contractor shopping again. Such a waste of time and energy! I guess I won't be using my deck until next spring at this rate.

Things that grow

The pretty pink flowers in my front yard, greeting me every morning

The cherry tomatoes : this is the second time I get to pick the ripe ones and more to come

This little bug. 

According to the doctor, the "monsters" that gnaw on her feet are growing pains.

 Poor  little bug !!

4 years ago ...

We welcomed our little bug into the world

And my life changed forever for the better

Look at this bug turning into a pretty pink butterfly

Happy Birthday !!

Monsters attack - Mom and dad strike back

Still much monster fighting over the past few days but some progress to report. 

We had planned to upgrade our munchkin's sleeping accommodation from a toddler bed to a regular twin sized in the next few months. We decided it was time to switch. After another harrowing evening saturday, it was out with the toddler bed, in with the big girl bed. Bonus: Mom or dad can lay down with the little one to calm her down at bedtime. No monster big panic to report tonight. Yay. Hoping for some sleep. 

Good fun outing to a local farm today where we grabbed fresh veggies and picked tons of yummy peaches.  Our little one helped out and had a great time ... in style too! Hat, sunglasses, necklace and bangles: all necessary for a successful trip to the farm.

Monster potion number 9

So this is how you fight back monsters : Anti-monster spray. 

Squirt bottle ($1) , Verbena Extract, 1 drop of food coloring, water, a bit of Photoshop to put the label together. 

Not 100% effective but  definitely less tears and lower panic levels than yesterday. Se still ended up crashing in my bed but fell asleep much faster. So far the anti-monster spray gets 3 out of 5 for efficiency. We will give it a couple more days and hope it works better and better.

 Maybe I should get extra-strength Monster spray (red food dye and lavender extract). 

Monsters under the bed

Last night was rough. Nobody in the house got much sleep. Unbeknownst to us, monsters recently set camp under our daughter's bed. And last night, they attacked. Or so our little princess said. They were pulling her legs and gnawing on her feet. The poor thing!! She was terrified, shaking like a leaf. Big sobs, real tears, it took hours to calm her down and even then she woke up several times and had to stick her leg straight up ... Not much time left for any shuteye.

Apparently the monsters were still here tonight. No cajoling or coaxing from mom or dad could make our little one stay in her bed. So there she is... a little squatter in our bed. Tomorrow, I'm getting monster spray !!

My first linky party (as a guest)

This is the linky party for the gift exhange I participated in 

Yes I am a craftaholic too

Some sleep would be nice

It's happening again: Not enough sleep. I go to bed and the wheels keep spinning. In the morning, strong black coffee is my saving grace. 

This morning I had to go to the office early to be able to discuss an issue with one of my colleague who was going to be unavailable for the rest of the day. I'm not really a morning person, so if you add this with the lack of sleep, not an awesome combination. The rest of my day just went downhill from there. From confrontations with the escalation/development office that seems to be going the extra mile to make you jump through hoops rather than seeking to make customers happy to unpleasant decisions to make about the team. Still love my job but I'm really frustrated by the general inertia and lack of concern for the customers I'm constantly head-butting against.

5pm came, I was totally out of juice. Skipped dinner with Richard since the hubby was not feeling well and I was definitely too tired to drive myself downtown safely in rush traffic and definitely not in shape to drive back in one piece after dinner. I'm bummed. 

So tonight I'm hoping to fall asleep without tossing a turning for hours. Really, it would be nice not to wake up tired for a change.

Rush !!

Today was a run from start to finish.

It started by me oversleeping. I heard the alarm clock .. and fell back asleep. Oops. Quickly went through the morning routine and made it to work on the wire. Errands at lunchtime, more errands after work : Get an air mattress, a set of sheets for it from Target, new cat scratching post from PetSmart, special diet cat food from the Vet's office, straw from the garden center to cover my grass seed, party supplies for saturday. Out of the house at 7:30am, back home at 7:15pm. Sometimes pizza delivery is just what you need!

After dinner a big cuddle with my princess and once she was tucked in I managed to take some pictures of Clara's new wardrobe which I posted on my creative blog: Atelier Caroline

The rest of the week is going to be more rush. Tomorrow night we are having dinner with our British friend Richard who is on vacation in the area. Wednesday evening, Karen, my beloved Canadian friend and colleague who is in the office for the week, is coming for dinner. Thursday will be devoted to tidying up the house. Friday evening, my in-laws will be in town to celebrate their grand-daughter's birthday with us, and I'll have to get all my laundry done because, Saturday, after the birthday party, we are off to the Orioles Park at Camden Yards for a baseball game (the hubby scored fabulous free tickets!!). Oh and I almost forgot brunch on Sunday. Somewhere in all that chaos, I will have to fit a trip to the grocery store and a sanity break!

Getting ready for the B-Day

Next weekend, we will be celebrating the 4th birthday of our sunshine. Her actual birthday is on the 26th but the 17th was the best date. This past week, was all about shopping, making sure the presents would be delivered on time and then sewing... a lot of sewing. 

As it turns out, my daughter is a bit of a fashion victim. She's all about dresses and shoes, handbags and sunglass. The shoes and handbags is probably because of me. The immoderate taste for girly girl dresses, not me .. at all. I'm all for pants, especially jeans. Anyway, we decided it was time to get her a doll that she can dress.. and that is NOT a Barbie doll or a baby doll. Meet our pick: Clara

She looks just like a little girl!! Of course we had to pick the redhead :). The clothing sets are a bit pricey so  the evenings have been spent sewing and sewing and sewing ... doll outfits. A tennis dress, a sundress, 2 skirts that can be paired with the t-shirt and/or overshirt from this picture and a formal long skirt with matching top. I have to say it was fun to create those outfits. I hope our little one will have lots of fun with her new friend. 

3 letters 3 digits : HOT 105

Yes it's been that hot here today: 105F (that's  40.5 Celcius). That's when having centrail air conditioning is definitely a saving grace. Thankfully our air conditioning works like a charm. And so does the AC at work. 

Other than the scorching heat it was a good day. Our princess had so much fun at school and later at home that she crashed at 7:15 PM .. a whole 45 minutes before her regular bedtime. Work didn't suck and I finally finished the little dress for Juliet. I also decided to try to separate my "rant" blog from my creative blog. Drumroll.... 

Behold, the new hot address: 

Atelier Caroline

About the 4th

I believe she had a good time at the parade

Lollipops and pure fascination 

Our stay-home getaway

Unlike the regular routing, this year's 4th of July parade was held... on the 3rd. After the parade we had a nice family/friends barbeque at my hubby's aunt and uncle. As planned, our princess spent the night at their place and they all headed to Virginia to spend the day on a farm. Yay! Free time for mom and dad!

We were hoping to take off somewhere overnight. As it turns out, we couldn't find a last minute getaway but we still had a great time. First we had dinner at a cajun restaurant. Just the two of us. Our daughter is well behaved and we gladly take her along to the restaurant... however  it tends to kill the romantic side of things. Anyway nice dinner, great evening. Then this morning we did a spur of the moment thing. We are watching CBS' Sunday Morning show on TV while having breakfast. One of the topics this week was the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in DC. And we just decided to go. Just like that. So and hour later we are on our way to DC (Ok it's only a few miles away, but not an expedition we would undertake without planing if out little one had to come along). The exhibit was great, we plenty of time to enjoy it and check out other area of the the museum. And cherry on the cake, the Air Force Jazz band was playing in the museum's courtyard. Very cool. 

We headed back home before things went crazy with people heading to the fireworks. 

Back home we tidied up the house and had another nice dinner together on the back porch. Then it was back to reality. And the great feeling of those little arms around my neck.  I did miss my munchkin! 

Tomorrow is going to be a slow day. Shopping, cleaning, laundry all done already. If it's not too hot in the morning I might try to tackle some gardening. We'll see. 

Pea, strawberry and moojacks

You learn from your child everyday. I learn even more everyday as my child is growing up in a different country than I grew up in. You grow into a parent, a more patient, more open person. And then there is the added difficulty of my child language challenges. I learned that a "Happy to you" is plenty when "birthday" is in the heart. I learned that any red berry is a strawberry. I learned that peabutter contains peanuts and is spread on toast. I learned today that moojacks (wheat chex for you and I) are just the thing for breakfast. 

Today was a pretty good day at work. Everybody finally calmed down after the frantic activity to close fiscal year on June 30th. Everybody was on long holiday weekend mood. I wish people were this relaxed every week. I'm sure we would get just as much work done, and do it without a constant stress induced heartburn.

I also upgraded my iPhone (the software, not the phone) and I love the new features. Especially the apps groups. Yay for decluttering. Also love having a picture of my princess in the background all the time. 

And then, super weekend last minute bonus, tomorrow night our muchkin is spending the night (and the sunday) with her great aunt Joan. Desperately looking for a last minute overnight getaway for the hubby and I. Easier said than done on the eve of a holiday weekend!

Pretty

Busy schedule

It's been a busy couple of days. This weekend we had a very nice dinner with a French friend recently moved to the US with his American wife. They have a sweet 2-year old boy and are expecting a baby girl any day now. Steak on the grill, pasta salad and corn on the cob. I made a peach and raspberry clafouti for dessert that was quite the hit too.  Of course as soon as we got home I had the itch to make something cute for their little Juliette. So I dove in mu stash again to find the right fabric for the project.

Then Sunday, I was thrilled to be able to spend some time with my friend Denise. She is still recovering from a horrible car crash and is finally well enough to drive. We had great breakfast together, caught up on a lot of things and spoke chiffon. Denise used to have a clothing shop where she sold her creations but had to let go of it years ago. She is now thinking about going back to sewing and maybe setting up an Etsy shop. So cool ! Then we went to see "Knight and day". We  had a lot of fun and I got home just in time for Kaylee's birthday party next door. The rest of the Sunday is a blur as I had to catch up on all the household chores set aside to meet with friends. 

Yesterday was an OK work day. I got home with more energy than I've had in weeks. I made some baked tomatoes stuffed with couscous and topped with a thin slice of grilled mozarella cheese and some Provence herbs. Simple, healthy and delicious.  In the evening I got started on the dress of Juliette.

Today again an OK day. I was greeted by a surprise in my front yard: 3 years ago I planted some bulbs and the past 2 summer all I got from it was a lot of green. Finally this year something else.

 Also enough energy for some decent cooking: Cajun chicken with rice and pineapple. Hubby loves it!
More sewing tonight. The dress is starting to take shape. I still have to stitch the straps and the back and some finishing touches. I did play a bit with my sewing machine decorative stitches.

How cute is that ? 

Survived

I survived the week... barely. Every night I got home a bit more exhausted than the previous and woke up barely rested from a really short night after  hours of tossing and turning. At least for the first time since March the workload is back down. For a lot of our customers this is the fiscal year end. They are closing the books, the budget is spent, if they have plans to upgrade or install new software it's going to be with next year's budget... so next month at best. For my team it means things will be slow until mid-July. I admit the whole team has been welcoming the change of pace.

On the home front not much got accomplished this week besides sewing for Kaylee's birthday present. Too tired to even cook. Tomorrow, the usual menu : cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry. I also have to do some baking as we are invited for dinner and I promised to bring dessert. I'll shoot for something simple for sure. 

Serious about cuteness

I was not really planning to finish Kaylee's birthday gift tonight. I was planning to watch a bit of a movie with my daughter then to sew some. Then my plans had to change because of this :

My daughter, her blanky and her beloved ducky, crashed in my bed.

Grabbed the kid and tucked her in her bed then on with the sewing. All done. I think I did OK in the cute department. I'll let you judge.

I bought some plain onesies and socks, added a little skirt with lace at the hem on the onesie, some lace at the cuff of the socks and made a matching headband. 

One more done.. and more to go

Today was my first time back in the office in almost 2 weeks. Last time I was there was a big fat bust, I was still pretty shaken from my grand mother's passing. Thankfully my boss is understanding and accommodating and let me hide home long enough that I'm OK with the daily frustration and stress that comes along with the job when you have to go to the office... especially MY office. So this time it went mostly OK. I didn't loose it. I just hid in my car during lunch to avoid visitors/well wishers/gossipers. Got back home pretty brain fried though. Just to give an idea, I prepared the coffee machine for tomorrow morning and ended up pouring the water AND the coffee ground in the water tank. Oops. I did get it right the second time around but this could have been messy. 

I did manage to tackle a little home improvement project tonight: last fall we had our postage stamp sized backyard which was also a permanent mud pitt converted into a paved terrace. I built a ledge in front of the access gate so that it is easier to access. Next weekend, I will get some sod to fix up the slope in front of the step... and it'll look much prettier.

Then I went through my fabric stash looking for a cute print to make a present for my neighbor's granddaughter Kaylee who is turning 1. I can't make up my mind which fabric to use or what to make but this is what I dug out for it.

Father's (and mother's) day

Father's day. My hubby is great everyday. 

Every weekday, he is in charge of getting our munchkin up and ready for school/daycare while I (curse of a fulltime working mom) am already gone to the office. Everyday, he earns his great daddy badge in my eyes. And there is no doubt our little one worships her dad. 

So today my guy got a new fancy coffee machine to make his mornings (and mine) a bit easier. It was on sale so we got the fancier model that also warms water for tea. That's a feature his mom, who is a tea aficionado, will absolutely love and my mom who drinks instant coffee will also find handy. For my part I like the idea of not having a pan permanently resident on the stove while they visit. 

Bonus for grand mothers :D

This afternoon, the hubby put the final touch to my creative space: He finished the under cabinet lighting. Fabulous. I have now a great light to cut, sew, blog (and work ...). So it's a bit mother's day too .

I could not ask for a better guy :) : Happy father's day !!