One Perfect Mess

Archive for November, 2010

Every year since I was in high school I have sent out Christmas cards. I used to send out well over a hundred, but over the years my list has waned a bit. I have weeded out those that never send me one, or people that no longer have a place in my life. It is amazing how few people have been added to the list however. Hmm telling. Anyway, like most I didn’t send out a photo card until I had children. I have experimented with several companies the last four years and haven’t been 100% happy with any of them. Until now. Shutterfly not only has fabulous designs at reasonable prices but their cards are top quality and ship correct and on time. You can’t beat that!

If you are still in the market for your Christmas card this year you should check out what they have to offer. With over 800 designs, there is something for everyone. Don’t do Christmas? They have cards for you too. And if you need an easy gift idea they have awesome photo calendars that will surely please any proud grandparent.

Keep an eye out for our 2010 family Christmas card from Shutterfly which will be posted right here. You know, if I can ever get a picture of my kids looking at the camera.

**FTC disclosure: I received my Christmas cards free from Shutterfly this year in exchange for this blog post. My opinions regarding Shutterfly are my own.**

Dear Maddie,

Happy Birthday! I wish that I was able to hop over to your mom’s blog today and see your beautiful face covered in icing and your huge smile as you opened your presents. Instead I will take my daughter for a walk, just her and me. I will tell her your story again. We’ll look for purple flowers. I will show her some of your movies. She is already a big fan of Annie’s. She is going to be super excited to get the Annie and Rigby DVD from Santa this year. Most of all I will squish her silly and remember just how precious every single day is, yep, even the ones where naps are skipped and popsicles melt all over the carpet.

The world misses you Maddie.

The Peanut has learned to snort. He thinks this is pretty much the funniest thing ever. He will snort, look at me and then fall over into a pile of giggles. He has also taken up giving super hugs. He’ll wrap his tiny arms right around my neck and squish his face against mine. Swoon. It is ridonkulously cute. It almost makes up for the fact he is hell on wheels. By 6:30 in the morning he is running full speed ahead around the house getting into each cat’s face and screaming as loud as he can. Then he’ll run by a table with a stack of papers on it and without losing speed swipe the pile on the floor. From there he heads to the cat food dish where he shoves a handful in his mouth before continuing his romp. He’ll pause at the bookcase to sweep every single book on the floor and then scale whatever furniture is the closest and then just look at me as if to say “whatcha got Mom?” And I swear to the God of all things good and decent if he doesn’t quit eating crayons soon I will have to pay a visit to the nuthouse. We’ve started with the timeouts but just like with the Weebles at first it is just a novelty and he doesn’t care. He thinks they are fun even. But after awhile that will wear off and he’ll not like it anymore. It is amazing how the most adorable, enchanting, frustrating, annoying as hell person on the planet could all be encompassed by his tiny 26 lb self. Dennis the Menace had nothing on this kid.

The other day I was sitting on the driveway while the kids drew with sidewalk chalk. Well, that isn’t right, the Weebles drew with chalk and the Peanut ate it. Anyway, I leaned my head back and looked up at the trees to see how many leaves we had lost so far. Through the branches I could see patches of blue sky and I noticed waaaaaay up there a teeny shiny speck. The sun was glinting off a jet. When I see planes in the sky I like to think about the people on them. Do they love to fly like I do? Or are they terrified the entire time? Where are they going? Are they business people that fly three days a week or are they newlyweds heading off on their honeymoon? I think about all the various times I have flown. Lucky for me all my flights have been to go somewhere exciting so I always look forward to the adventure of taking off.

This time I wondered if anyone up there was looking down. It was much too high to actually be able to make out things on the ground. Next time I fly I want to remember to enjoy the view from up there. To wonder how many moms are sitting on the ground with their kids, making up stories about where the passengers are going and teaching them about how planes work. It is really neat to me that the world can be so big and so small at the same time. Also, I may be doped up on cold medicine.

I’m too tired to write a post tonight. What? You thought weekends were for recharging?!? Ch, have a couple of kids my friends. Y’all know what I’m talking about. So instead of reading something here, go read something here.

I’m quilting along with Liz’s Triangle Madness and as I predicted I A.) didn’t stick with using only scraps even though I swore to myself I would and B.) worked on it nonstop for a week or two and then got bored and set it aside. I have all the triangles cut and pieced into squares and I know how I want to lay the whole thing out. Then I started trying to piece together the squares into my pattern and had a hard time getting my lines to… well line up. I also realized too late that while I am really loving the bright fabrics I chose, I have no idea what I will do with it when finished. So it is on hold until I finish up the myriad of Christmas projects I have in the queue.

see, not lining up!

I found this super cute, ridiculously easy pattern for tote bags over at P.S. I Quilt. I made one for myself and love it so much I’ve ordered fabric to make them for teacher gifts for my kids’ various teachers. I did tweak the pattern by making the bags different sizes as the tiny size shown isn’t as functional as I’d like it to be for use as a tote. I did make a small one for the Weebles to use for her tap and ballet shoes so I wouldn’t forever be searching for the shoes and now she hauls it everywhere. Guess I’ll have to make her a second one.

I have gone on a fabric buying spree of late. I have been fairly loyal to Fabric.com and their site is still great but my new favorite go-to site is Crazy Quilt Girl. Her prices have consistently been lower than other sites and she has tons of great charm packs and jelly rolls which are my current weakness. Not to mention she has been shipping insanely fast and on one of my orders the shipping ended up being lower than she estimated and she gave me a refund! I do the bulk of my shopping online and that is unheard of.

My pre-Disney goals are to finish up two sets of placemats I am working on. I’d love to knock out another tote or two before the trip too, but I’m being realistic here. Nothing is packed and every so often I do need to feed the kids so…

I can go on forever about why I love having children. But this post isn’t about that. It is about the neverending demand on my sanity. Sanity which was questionable to begin with. I have made no secrets about how I planned my first baby. I decided how I would parent her. And that made the around the clock demands somehow easier to take. Then I found out I was pregnant again. And I have spent a good deal of time since feeling some variety of imposed upon. Not that I don’t love my little boy, or that I would change a thing. But it is like I got caught off guard, and never have recovered. I have this feeling of “can I get a minute for CHRISSAKES” pretty much all the time. And that means my patience is thinner than usual, my laughs a little dimmer and I really hate that. I don’t know how to clear the score column and start over. Or better yet throw the damn thing out. I wake up in the morning wanting a break that never seems to come. And when they do come I don’t seem to find the repair and rejuvenation I was hoping for. It is pretty obvious that I sub in junk food for the “me time” I don’t get. So, I decided to put together a little exchange chart.

Last night I tried to sneak in a quick bubble bath while the kids were finishing up dinner. The result? They ate their dinner in the bathroom while I was in the tub. I justified chips and salsa AND ice cream for that.

Disclaimer: I realize this is all my choice. This isn’t my kids’ fault. They are wonderful, adorable blessings and I love them very much. This is my own little pity party. With refreshments obviously.

When your target potential customer comes to the door do not open with “hey, I ain’t gonna shoot ya.” Probably also best not to wear all dark clothing and a skull cap. After that clever opening, I wouldn’t then go on to rapidly pull random things out of pockets in quick succession so that the homeowner might think “holy crap, what is he pulling on me?”

Also a good idea? Don’t lie. Homeowners generally have a great idea about what is permitted in their area. Telling me my HOA gave you a special permit to peddle your wares in my neighborhood is a giant red flag as I am very well aware they do not allow such things. It also (and this is probably just a good idea for everyone, not just salespeople) is a bad idea to look at the small child hovering underfoot and say “I had one just about that age, got killed in a car wreck a couple of weeks ago.” Now, I will grant this could have happened. But when delivered with zero emotion… yeah, I’m not buying it OR whatever it is you are selling.

Another bad idea? Asking me what “you people around here do for a living.” I don’t know what my neighbors do, nor would I tell you. It is none of your business what I do for a living. And then when I flat out refuse to answer your question don’t follow that up with the gem “it just seems like such a conceited, uhhh I mean concealed neighborhood.” I don’t know what to do with either of those descriptions. Do not stand uncomfortably close to me as I stand at the cracked door so that you can check out the inside of my house. I am not an idiot, believe it or not, I know what you are doing.

And finally, for the love of all things furry and cute do NOT drink your fucking cleaning products to prove to me they are green and safe. I already have a pretty good idea you are a crackhead, the fact you are willing to eat cleaner does nothing for my opinion of the product. You are welcome.