Catching Up

I have been busy. Crazy busy. Ridiculously busy – and yet, I have nothing to show for it. Well, that’s not entirely true. I have LOTS of half finished projects, a sink full of dirty dishes & piles upon piles of laundry waiting to be done. I shouldn’t even be writing this, but I’m enjoying a moment. Yum Yums took an incredibly short nap, so I scooped him up and floated him on over to my bed where I’m sitting half-hug with him under the covers. He fell right back asleep and I absolutely refuse to carry him back to his crib. Before I blink twice he’ll be in the second grade like his brother & I’m not letting one magical second pass me by. Dishes be damned! And anyway, I do so hate doing dishes. And laundry. And cleaning bathrooms. I *can* however, cuddle a sleeping boy and type one-handed on my iPhone, so here we are!

Let me catch you up on recent happenings:

1. We just got back from a trip to Florida with my parents! Talk about a great time! The Noodle’s highlights were getting his “driver’s license” at Legoland, going down Humunga Cowabunga at Typhoon Lagoon, and getting to go on Space Mountain 4 times (3 of which were in a row with no wait! Gotta love off-season!).
The Muffin also loved driving at Legoland (as well as going on every single roller coaster they had), the Storm Slides & Lazy River at Typhoon Lagoon, all the boat rides (except one in Epcot) and the buffets we went to mostly because of the ice cream machines. She hated Space Mountain. It was too dark.
Yum Yums loved anything that had a steering wheel, the water slides & sand at Typhoon Lagoon, and the Dumbo and Magic Carpet rides at The Magic Kingdom – so much so that he screamed & cried whenever we took him off.
Me? I had a great time visiting my cousins & Aunt and Uncle. Oh, and just about everything else! It’s Halloween at Disney & the place is completely decked out Halloweenn-style. I love Halloween, so I was extra excited by this!

2. I suck at sewing. It kills me that I suck at it as much as I do. I have such grand plans. I have big ideas for a diaper cover line. I dream big at the fabric store. Yup. I’m great at ideas. Too bad I’m so sucky at execution. I made a diaper yesterday out of an old t-shirt, a piece of terry & a newborn sized prefold folded up. I saw a YouTube video of a teen mom making something similar – in like SEVEN MINUTES! Hers looked great. Mine – though functional (I think), looks sad. I fought with my machine, my elastic didn’t do what I was supposed to make it do, my thread broke repeatedly, it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to do a zig zag stitch (and I’m still not sure how I did it), and what took that teen mom minutes, took me all afternoon.
I *can* however make a bag with straight sides & uneven stitching. At least that’s something. I do think, though, that I will be returning the snap press I bought yesterday. I’m not sure I’ll ever be that advanced. Maybe I should just stick with screen printing & find someone to partner up with to actually assemble the diaper covers …or maybe I should get my head out of the clouds & not make myself busier than I already am …

3. This is a break-through that I’ve been meaning to share with you for awhile! Ever battle with ants in your house? Hate the idea of using poisons around your kids – or pets – or yourself? I have the answer: cinnamon leaf oil!! It is potent stuff & your house might smell like Christmas, but it works! Evidently, it messes with the ants’ pheromone trail & they hate that. At first, I doused a q-tip with it & painted around the baseboard & door where they were coming in. That really made our house smell. I mean I really applied it liberally. Then I read that it can be a skin irritant, so I scaled it back to a few drops on a wet sponge. It worked like a charm! No more ants!! We also had ants in another room & couldn’t figure out how they were getting in, so I sponged the floor with the cinnamon leaf oil & g-o-n-e! Now I maintain our ant protection by making my own floor cleaner: hot water, vinegar & 12 drops of the oil. Haven’t had a single ant since! I researched a bit & found out that it’s an old bee-keeper’s trick. The ants hate it, but it doesn’t bother the bees one lick. I also read that peppermint oil works, too, but I haven’t tried it. (Peppermint makes me sneeze).

4. No-poo is a no- go! I really wanted to ditch the shampoo, I really did. And I had read such glowing things about the baking soda/vinegar rinse method. I thought ” sure, no problem! I can live through greasy hair for a week or so! It’ll be GREAT to be free of shampoo & I’ll be saving so much money! And the environment! And…”. Yeah. Well, day one was fine. But then instead of my hair getting greasier, it got drier & brittle. I went 3 or more days between washing (which is normal for me), and still it just got drier & rougher. Maybe I wasn’t effectively washing out the baking soda. Maybe I should have used more vinegar – though I felt like I was using tons. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s just not for me. Oh well. I tried.

5. I made my own dishwasher detergent!! It’s baking soda, salt, citric acid, and orange & grapefruit essential oils – with an orange-vinegar rinse aid. So far, it’s doing a great job! I’m so excited! Hopefully, I’ll still like it in a few weeks. I’ll keep you posted!

6. In addition to sucking at sewing, I also suck at bread making. I don’t understand it. I’m following the recipes exactly, and still I either get bread shaped bricks, or bread shaped pieces of disgusting grossness. Oh well. You can’t be good at everything, right? Still, it irks me. It’s not just the failing, but it’s the wasted money (ingredients), and time. Maybe I just can’t afford the learning curve on certain things right now. By the time they lay me to rest, though, I WILL be able to bake a loaf of bread & sew a diaper! (The power of positive thinking, right? 😉

7. The Noodle is missing his 2 top teeth, and 3 more are loose! When those come out, the poor boy will be on a solid diet of mush!

Right. Well, there’s lots more to mention, but I’m going to have to wake this sleeping boy so we can collect the other two from the bus stop.

Be well!