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 !!

ADHD and OCD ?

We have known for a while that my daughter is not exactly like other kids of her age. She is very smart and creative. She has fantastic problem solving skills but she also has what the team that evaluated her called atypical development. She has a lot of the typical skill of a kid her ages but her mastery of language is not quite where it should be. Being raised in a bilingual household is definitely one of the factors but she also has a lot of troubles focusing and keeping still which makes learning  a more difficult. 


The hyperactivity and lack of focus (a bit early to  dub it ADHD) is a challenge at school and of course at home. I have already mentioned the school uses a lap pad to help her settle down and I made some to use at home with great success on the fidgeting. But there are other stuff my 4-year old daughter does that have me wondering me what is going on in her head. When she puts away her crayons, all the tips are pointing in the same direction, and then there was the Playmobil all lined up in their little house:

 or the foam letters on the shower tiles .. Not sure what to think 

On a roll

I'm on a roll. Lots of sewing this week. 

First the weighted lap pad, transformed into fish lap buddy on Wednesday night

Then on Thursday night, another weighted lap buddy : this cute snail.

Last but not least, last night a pad for my kitchen table so the oil cloth stops slipping (tested this morning at breakfast and works great !!) and a little sun dress for my princess. She loved it so much she had to wear it this morning. Brownie points for Mommy

The Mojo is back

Finally it's coming back. 


First I did some baking ... fresh strawberries yielded 2 yummy desserts: 

Then my new creative space is definitely working out. Finished this week , a cute little clutch for the Craftaholics Anonymous Christmas in July Gift Exchange

and a messenger book bag as a year end present for my daughter's teacher

I also made a weighted lap pad (shaped like a fish) for the kid, similar to the one she has at school and that does wonders against the constant fidgeting. I have to say it really works wonders. This evening, she watched a movie without pulling out every single toy out, running around with her blanket or hopping and skipping and dancing in front of the TV. The school's OT and educational team told me it was a great tool but now that I've seen it with my own eyes I'm sold. Definitely making another one of those soon. 

In other news, my friend Shari and her hubby just bought their first home. Since they are DIY virgins, I helped a bit when and where I could and I have to say all of this has been very therapeutic. I think I am finally ready to face the office stress. Speaking of which , this is my on-call week... not much sleep last night, maybe 2 hours between calls. Soooo tired! But I get to hide home for the rest of the week for my troubles. 

Look what UPS delivered

Look what UPS just delivered today ! It's finally there, my birthday present. Only about a month late but well worth the wait. I will now be able to take pictures of the family events in style... from compact digital to DSLR, meet my new toy: 

I patiently waited for the battery to charge and was able to test it after dinner. Pretty impressive compared to my aging Fiji FinePix. Love the flip display and how fast it is. I'm looking forward to discovering all the cool things I can do with it. Just a bit put off by the size of the user's manual but I'm afraid I'll have to suffer through it to make the best out of this great camera. 

In the other news, weeks after having the stairwell repainted, our "wall of fame" is back together.

And even though the creative side of me is still not up to much of anything I have started getting my new space organized. Finally out of the plastic bis they were stored, my stash... well that's only a small part, the fat quarters. I have yet more bins to unpack. Maybe all this will wake up the inspiration. I'm going to need it since I signed up for a gift exchange. 

Fail!

Still pretty shaken. First day back in the office after working from home for a week : Fail

Life goes on

It somehow feels wrong that the pain of losing someone so dear can go dull. But you can't really listen to the pain too much. There is life going on around you. Life, the life I chose, with a man I love, the life I made, my beautiful and and sweet little girl. And so much more. Family, friends, work, house, all those things pull you back from the hurt. And slowly you can taste again, smile again, think again. Less tears, less pain, more life. 

So life, I am back... 

Life is my princess picking strawberries at the local farm with Mom and Dad

and devouring them 

AND then the basement refurb finally complete... All that space for painting, drawing, cutting, sewing. 

Hopefully the creative side of me will wake back up soon.

Curtain

I spent the past few days curled up and sad, locked up in my house. Today was my grand mother's funeral, in Marseille. Today was a day of pain for me, stuck in the US and not able to attend. Thank you Joan for organizing this small memorial service at my house. It was good to be able to say goodbye even from so far away.

My sweet Mamie, so wrinkled and so beautiful, you went to rest with Grandpa.

I remember of the Tuesday evenings and the Wednesdays spent at your home, of the mini pots and pans and gastronomic dishes my sisters and I cooked in them. I remember the jumpers we knitted with you and often forgot to finish. I remember the sewing, the painting and the play dough sculpting. I remember the brioche sprinkled with grated chocolate for the afternoon snacks.

I remember the gentleness, the care and generosity. I remember all the happy moments, my sweet old grand mother that never was angry.  All your life you took care and worried about the others, Thank you for helping me be who I am now. Time for a well deserved long rest. I cannot describe how much I will miss you. Or how much the whole family will miss you.