I had a lovely birthday thank you very much. Full of good presents and lunch at my favorite place.
Why yes, I am holding Spotted Dick in my hands…
Of course it rained, and hailed, and was generally ridiculous Spring weather, but I had dinner made by my favorite person at the Burrow and received this nifty device that I’m loving!
There is a lot going on behind the scenes at the Burrow these days, I find it a struggle to stop, and breathe somedays. I especially struggle to find time for this space. This space is an important one for me. A reflection of my days, months and years.
Like any form of reflection, when neglected it seems hard to start, to remember how to be in the space. To focus on not listing all the woes of the day, the lack of time for the Mama or her needs, the removal of dead animals. Thanks Oliver.
As usual when I feel things spiraling out of control, I MAKE A LIST! Of course. And scheduling time to walk, and reflect has to be on that list. It makes for such a better balanced me. A mama who can focus more on the moment of dinosaur roars, Robot list making (of course we can get a laser, no problemo! let me just check) and of making pizza for dinner (*cough* diet what?).
When I walk, and reflect and remember to schedule childcare so I can get my work done, it makes such a difference in our day, in my temper, in my ability to enjoy reading the same book for the hundredth time to someone to whom it holds wonder, every time.
So much easier to breathe at night, reflect on my day, remember who I want to be tomorrow when the alarm goes off and I hit the ground running, hither and thither. Focusing on the boys, getting them off to various activities, checking items off to do lists, always leaves me feeling refreshed and ready for their return.
*I get around-the Beach Boys
It really is amazing how soothing knitting is, and so much easier to cart around than quilts. Quilting will always be my first love but knitting?
It’s is perfect for traveling. If you mess it up you can ‘frog’ it ‘ribbit ribbit’ out and start over. I really only make hats, but soon I’ll be making pants (baby pants that is). Seymour had a lovely pair of soakers that needed a hat.
Lovely Soakers in need of a hat
Why? Because we live in the Pacific Northwest, and while I got sunburned this weekend, it was only on my face, not through my fleece jacket or soaked hiking boots. It’s cold. Darn it.
hat!
Perfect hat knitting weather! I whipped this up for my brother. His birthday was a month ago and he lives in Georgia. Obviously he needs a hat. A knitted hat.
I’m sure he’ll love it!
4minutes-Madonna
I’m not going to lie to you. There was no walking or exercising of any kind this week. Unless you count chasing children. Which I do.
If you want a real weekend Rundown, go read juls! She ran Big Sur this weekend (show off) I’m sure she’ll be posting to it soon, she knows how we wait on pins and needles to live vicariously through her.
This weekend we spent at Scott’s Grandfather’s Estate Sale. Poppa is safely stashed at the local retirement digs and it was, well time. Scott’s Uncle and Cousins spent most of the last month? months? Preparing for this weekend.
Something for Everyone!
I showed up to play with the kids. I’m helpful like that.
I think there is an expectation of how things like Estate sales will go and I think in my case, I’ll be hiring people to sell the treasures of my past. Garage sales are always hard, it’s easier to drop things off at the local thrift store-donating-to-a-good-cause-of-your-choosing then to watch people pick over and discard old baby blankets, books, knick knacks that you don’t remember but gosh darn it be careful there!
To watch your parents’ possessions picked over and through. That would be hard.
Like I said. I just played in the wet grass, with the Philippine warrior children.
There is a rumor that she has caught a mouse….
but she still doesn’t fold the laundry.
Look what I did!
Seymour seems confused.
No not the baby. The hat. All knitty knitty bang bang and done.
This up close shot means I’m feeling more confident in my knitting, confident enough to show you the hat in action. We won’t talk about how I cast this on six, or seven (ahem) times on the dpn (double pointed needles) but how it just kept getting bigger and uh, holier. No we will not speak of it. But then, I decided why not just go ahead and cast this lovely bamboo yarn on the 3mm circular. And look! A hat.
Being a model is so exhausting. Hats off to Seymour (totally a girl’s name shush) and her small snuggling baby head that just makes me want to make hats….oh okay I’ll cast on another for you.
*This kiss-Faith Hill
Running Log:
Sunday walked 3miles.
I’m ready to run.
Over and out.
It is no surprise to anyone who comes by here regularly that Rancid Raves. is one of my favorite people. I am constantly in awe of not only her courage in the face of the poisonous spiders she KEEPS IN HER HOUSE! but also of her constant foray into the world with Team Chaos to Learn! New! Things! ( I prefer to stay at home and play with mud 
) Her constant ability to not only stand up for what she believes in, but to put it so eloquently often has me standing and cheering and wishing I were her.
The following post by Kelli, is just one more example of this. When I first read on her blog about this idea of Snapgifts, it was like a lightening bolt to the brain! Perfect!
How many times have you wanted to reach out to a friend, take the proverbial casserole to a neighbor, or just give them a hug but have found that the physical distance between you prevents it? By the time that casserole arrived it would be moldy and a plane ticket is not affordable to many of us, especially when we don’t want to overwhelm our friends by showing our support by camping in their living room!!
Snapgifts provides an excellent alternative. Kelli calls this shilling ( I don’t know what that means either) but I think of it more as passing along information to my blog friends for them to store away for a time when they have use.
Sharing! It’s like kindergarten online…stop eating the paste and read on.
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Hello! This is Kelli from Rancid Raves. Brit is off flitting about in the woods ( probably getting her hair done by the birds with singing mice at her heels. Because Brit is so fancy, no? ) Anyway! While she is gone, I thought I would sneak in here and shill for my business (okay, okay…. Brit actually asked me to guest post about this particular topic, but sounding sneaky and devious about it is far more fun. Work with me here….. )
So!
My husband and I have an online business, a place where you can shop for a huge variety of gift cards (and believe me, it is far easier to purchase gift cards from Snapgifts.com than to trek out yourself to do it) and what is particularly cool, is that we have a large selection of unique, locally owned businesses (just not in Brit’s area. Which she has pointed out repeatedly. Ahem.) But! I am not here to talk about that. I am here to talk about our Giving Registry.
Often, when families find themselves in an emergency situation or dealing with chronic illness or disease, their loved ones and friends have no idea how to help. To that end, we launched a special program that helps families in need – a special registry system called The Giving Registry. Using this feature, families in need are able to create an account with Snapgifts.com and establish a registry by selecting gift cards for places that would help them the most (i.e. specific restaurants, gas stations and pharmacies that were close to their home). The first of its kind, the Giving Registry allows a patient to communicate his/her needs and importantly, the patient can easily add his/her Registry to online patient journals and personal websites.
We found that friends and family members were frustrated because they WANTED to help their loved ones as they face a medical challenges, but it was difficult to know what sort of help was needed. The Giving Registry gives them an easy way to help. I am so proud to be involved with this, actually making a difference for folks. (If you or someone you know is interested in our product and needs help with the process, please contact me directly via email:kelli@snapgifts.com. Also, important to note? My husband and I have a firm stance on No Profits when it comes to the Giving Registry. If profits are to magically appear from this, they will be redistributed back to the family on a quarterly basis.)
This is personal to me, as I have had friends and family over the years face a variety of cancers. And the most difficult? When someone far away is suffering. I have a friend who is very ill right now and I have not been able to visit her because of flu season and the fact that she cannot have visitors who have flown commercial air flights. Since my private plane is on concrete blocks in my front yard, I have been chomping at the bit to see her until I get clearance to fly commercial (my insistence that she set up a detoxification chamber outside her house was met with laughter. Geez, I was serious.)
Supporting a friend long-distance is tricky, I am definitely looking for advice. Here are the ideas I have come up with so far:
1. Sending gift cards (duh!)
2. Sending care packages for her and for her toddler daughter. This is two-fold. My friend cannot go out in public much, she does not get to peruse the aisles of Target, and she does not get to hang out in playgroups with other moms to get ideas. So, I send her things that she may not know about. Also, I try to think of things that she can do with her daughter, since they are home so much. Conversely, I like to send things that will entertain her daughter alone, so that my friend can get a few minutes of rest to herself. My favorite items to send are products from Crayola’s Color Wonder series because it is not a high-risk item for “mass destruction”.
3. Talking. Just talking. My friend told me the other day, that sometimes, she just wants to talk. Like normal. Not about the cancer. So, I have to remind myself that while cancer lingers in the background, my friend is still my friend, with no special adjectives attached.
Here is the rub: I have not been as supportive of a friend as I would have liked. Not nearly and I am embarrassed to admit this public. Deep breath….. Some of it is fright, some of it helplessnes, some of it is “life with two small children… whoa. Where did the past month just go?“ But it is never too late to kick in and be supportive. If you have any special thoughts or ideas in situations like this, I am all ears.
Peace,
Kelli
Creating a Giving Registry is easy:
1. Go to Snapgifts.com and create new account.
2. On the left sidebar, under “Search Gift Registries” select the option “Create New Registry”
3. After creating the registry, you can add items by browsing the Snapgifts.com gift card catalog and from the product page, selecting the button “Add to Registry“
*I get by with a little help from my friends-Joe Cocker or The Beatles, your choice, I can’t decide!
We are coasting towards Spring around here, you know other than the FROST on the ground this morning. Spring! Spring is coming. In between making our own version of Go Fish! this week because Mushvroom (which apparently is a very apt name for our vehicle which leaves behind its own special cloud *sigh*) the MiniVan ate our actual pack of Go Fish! cards which did not include Hammerhead sharks anyway so weren’t that good.
On the scribbled goldfish card….
Moo: My brudder is not a very good colorer. He is very messy.
Mama: Well, he is doing his best, that is what is important.
Moo: Well, it’s not very good.
And learning to play checkers with buttons (what?! you don’t use buttons on your checker board? Half the fun! I tell you is is sorting your color!) while brother was at school. (he just likes to throw the buttons)
I did manage to take a picture of the sun. Shining. Hello sun. (right next the hippo and the sock! You can see it!)
*Don’t stop believing-Glee cast
This look says “Trust me”
but my gut? Says check his pockets, hide the forks, knives, screwdrivers and maybe go check my laptop for chocolate deposits (no! they aren’t all my fault)
*Halo- Beyonce