Project Update: Closet to Sewing Office Transformation

Many thanks for your kind words and support following my last post! I still don’t have answers, but I do now have more ideas, and hope. This week, I’ve used my new seeing room several times, though it’s unfinished. Take a look at that photo! We’re aiming to add shelving to reduce clutter. But it’s usable! One mending project on Friday took 90 seconds, and do you know, that’s all the time I had to spare on it? This fact still amazes me today.

The wonderful thing is that I never would’ve mended that darn diaper changing pad if we hadn’t started making the walk in closet into a sewing room. I’m content knowing that I accomplished something. It was my show and tell when Honey came home. And it doesn’t hurt that the annoying need to mend that particular item isn’t staring me in the face with every nasty diaper change.

Happy Trails,
Miss Mary Clare

Intent Research Minded Mamas

My current puzzle is looming large in my mind and our day to day lives. How does someone like me, whose mind and habit thrive on intense projects, tend to the many menial tasks of motherhood that interrupt such projects. Probably, I’m a researcher at heart. I’ve found that I’m most pleased when I’ve tackled something 100%, whether it’s the perfect transformation of a closet into a sewing room/office, or the historical question of whether “Bloody Mary” deserves the name. When a kid with a double ear infection wakes up crying and needing food and unwilling to take their meds, all of what I love to do seems trashed by those who I love. And I do love them. And I want to care for them, even for their menial needs. And, yes, I could consider them “projects”, but I don’t want to. They are people, not projects, and not research subjects.

Real World Word Problem for House Wives

This is the kind of word problem we should have had to work in school:

6. Sam has a desk job and wears jeans to work every day. If Sam has 4 pairs of jeans and also gardens at the end of the day 20% of work days, how often does his wife need to wash his jeans? (Bonus points for answers that don’t require a wash for every wearing.)

I wonder whether HomeEcc classes back in the day covered this. It’s just another reason I wish I was born 100 years ago.

Pensively,
Miss Mary Clare

PS: When you have the answer, would you please raise your hand and share with the class? Thank you!

Purse Repair. DIY Sewing. Mom Pursinality Episode 1.

Frugal to the point of recklessness.

I like the bag my in-laws gifted to me a couple Christmas’ ago. Problem is, I’ve been a Mom Purse person since high school (many years before my actual state in life warranted such a title, incidentally). Folks of the Mom Purse mentality understand that paring down what’s carried in the purse is never a good solution, even when shoulder a soar from the sheer weight of the items.

And don’t bother thinking that something that hasn’t been used in a month ought to be tossed aside from the purse. No! It may be used next month. You see, folks with Mom Purses thrive on having EVERYTHING handy. You don’t need EVERYTHING every day. But you do need EVERYTHING, eventually. And if you don’t, surely someone you encounter will need it. For instance, 1 pen is never enough in a purse. This, of course, is because someone will need to borrow one when you are using yours. Hasn’t this happened to you? Let’s stop a moment, assess our lives, and realize that all of us, at some point or other have either been the beneficiary or the benefactor of a spare pen. We all need Mom Pursinalities in our lives.

Wait. We were talking about this specific purse. Sorry. I felt the need to explain Mom Purses. This particular one is lovely, but of very light weight fabric. Ergo, it burst at the seems. Several of them. As in, the weight of the necessary items in my purse caused the fabric to pull away from the seems.

Here’s an example. There’s a big hole that shouldn’t be there. This wouldn’t be a problem for a reasonable person of the Minimalist Pursinality. Like my sister. My brain will never understand this http://wechoosetolivethislife.blogspot.com/2011/06/some-summer-organization.html.

One may think that I should just get a stronger purse to suite my pursinality (oh man, I’m having fun with this pun. Sorry! It’s punny! It just came out, out of nowhere!). A new, stronger purse would that would cost money and time. So I’m going to modify this one to suit my Mom Pursinality.

My goals: repair, add compartments, reduce strain on current seams, preserve exterior appearance while enhancing shape definition.

I’ve gotten as far as repairing the burst seems. Will I ever get to the re-enforcement and enhancement stages? Stay tuned! Time will tell.

Love,
Miss Mary Clare

Photo: shabby chic & cottage style inspiration.

I took this photo last week using our tablet PC. It’s completely raw and unedited. I didn’t even crop it. Not to be bragadocious, but I think it’s perfect. Sure, there are several things wrong with it from a fine photography perspective. I probably will never hang this on a wall. You can see our window screen, for one thing. And the yards aren’t exactly pleasing to the eye. What I love and what makes it, to my mind, better than an edited or well-planned image, is that it speaks for itself. It captures the reality in the same way it captured me out of the corner of my eye while I was busy with many ordinary things. It’s beautiful. It’s ordinary. It’s unexpected that the two would become one on a random Saturday when I’m cleaning the high chair tray for the 10th time that day and hoping desperately that nap time will come soon.

Also, this photo is in style! I’ve never wanted to pin myself down to a trend (even if I love it!), but I can’t help but notice that this photo would be great inspiration for anyone re-decorating their home in the popular cottage style.

I’ve been thinking a lot about ordinary life. As a friend shared recently: ‘God must really love ordinary life, because he sure created a lot of it!’. This image is there in the midst of our ordinary life. Ordinary life is full of beauty.

I want to share this with you in hopes that your day today is ordinary.

MMC

Frugal (to the Point of Recklessness) Tip

Today’s great accomplishment: saving ~2/3 a teaspoon of jarred pesto from loneliness, isolation, and parched-ness. (Yes, I realize that “parched-ness” may not be a real word. But if Shakespeare can make up words, can’t I? Oh it’s because his genius is a ticket to our leniency and acceptance of HIS new words. Ok. That’s fair. But I’m going to use my new word anyways. No one else has to, unless it perfectly describes the thing you are trying to describe. In which case, I recommend it!)

But, anyways, my marvelously creative friend  once exclaimed “you are frugal to the point of recklessness”. We laughed because it’s so true. It’s now a permanent part of my mental resume.

I really am delighted to bring to you, today, just a small example of the wisdom and savings that, you, too may enjoy.

See the distressing waste of pesto pasted onto the upper inside of this jar? I will become parched and lonely and un-usable if refrigerated way up there, away from it’s brethren.

I tried tapping the jar on the counter to force it down. Don’t do this if you have a sleeping baby in the next room. I did, so I stopped. Even saving 2/3 a teaspoon pesto isn’t worth waking a baby.

I then violated a key rule of Frugality to the Point of Recklessness (Use the Absolute Minimum of Dishes when Cooking Because Who Wants the Work of Cleaning Them). But the corollary to this rule is: If One Must Dirty another Dish by All Means Use the Smallest Possible Dish. Hence, the appetizer spoon that we use as a baby spoon (also a frugal use!). It’s tiny, so it will hardly take room in the dishwasher. So I’m still frugal.

And the party in someone’s mouth when they taste that 2/3 teaspoon extra pesto will be all the greater. What a good deal!

Doing My Part,
Miss Mary Clare

The Horrific Menu Planning Escapade: Update

Good evening,

I feel it only right and proper to follow-up on my Meal Planning tirade of a few days back.

Here’s what it looked like. Prepare to be impressed.

That’s right. Two and a half DPSs (double page spreads. Is this term still used in publishing? I’m a late 90’s year book geek.) from my calendar with main dinner dishes scrawled into the inner margins for each week/dps. There are a maximum of two per week. Nothing more. But nothing less either! And you know what? It helped my life and sanity level, but only once I remembered that I had written my Menu Plan in to my calendar. Never mind that for several days I haphazardly wondered 6.3 times per day what the heck to serve for dinner. Eventually, the horror of my Menu Planning Escapade of a few days back re-surfaced, and I actually used the Plan! And I had already shopped for the items needed! Win win!

Despite the major mental whiplash caused by me, of all people, menu planning, I am pleased and peaceful with a couple things:

1) For one menu, I planned an actual menu! “Chix and chocolate cake.” There it is, in writing, for all of history. What more does one need in a meal than chix (ie chicken) and chocolate cake?
2) I gave myself lots of freedom within the structure. Having learned that over planning can produce stress just as often as under planning, I didn’t assign certain dishes to certain days. I just knew, given our schedule for the next couple of weeks, that cooking twice a week would be reasonable.
3) I didn’t matter much what meal went on which day. If I remember correctly, I simply put the dish with veggies that would go bad most quickly on the first page of the first week. And chocolate cake with chix, naturally, went on the day when we were having friends for dinner.

That’s it. That’s all I have to say about Menu Planning.

Love,
Miss Mary Clare

Chocolate Volcanic Cake

This is a cake. It is also a kitchen malfunction. And a marvelous example of a kitchen malfunction, if I do say so myself. It’s not supposed to be sunken into itself. I need to work on helping my cakes with self esteem and posture.

This is me puzzling over a) how to work the camera (I had it pointed in the wrong direction), and b) how to morph the malfunction into something lovely and fun that would honor our guests.

Marketing geek that I am, I gave it a name – Chocolate Volcanic Cake – to make it at home with it’s sunken-ness. It is not a mistake. It’s an opportunity for creativity.  I would make a fantastic Marine. Assess, adapt, overcome! We inhaled this cake within 24 hours. By we, I mean I did. I had a little help from my family and our good friends, Rose and Chris who brought their toddler.  It tasted delicious, and I think it looked pretty darn good, too.

This volcano has some awesome lava flows.

This is proof that I’m attempting to learn from my mistakes. I mean kitchen malfunctions. I wrote in the cookbook margins the pan size, temperature, and cooking time. Next time, if I need a flat (boring!) cake, I have ideas for what to do. In the mean time, this happy accident provided lots of culinary and creative pleasure.

Love,

MMC

 

MENU PLANING. Do you?

I’ve been missing you while I MENU PLAN. I think I’d rather clean bathrooms than MENU PLAN. In rough order of preference, here’s what I enjoy in life:
Freedom
Mocha
Creativity
Being useful
Time with people
Blogging
Baking
…insert here approximately 1,000 values…
…insert here approximately 1,000 ideals…
…insert here approximately 1,000 items…
Owning a slow cooker (Crockpot)
Cleaning bathrooms
MENU PLANNING

Notice that MENU PLANNING is at the bottom of the list? Clever you. Notice that freedom is at the top? That’s why MENU PLANNING is at the bottom. Polar opposites must be separated. It’s a rule of the universe (but don’t quote me on this to a physicist). In my ideal world, the garden, refrigerator, and pantry are all fully stocked, babe is napping, it’s 3pm (give or take), and I’m throwing something together for dinner. What’s for dinner? I have no idea. And that’s just fine with me. It will turn out delicious. After a nice family dinner, someone else does the dishes. Perfect! Notice: there is no MENU PLANNING in my ideal world.

Why, then, you ask, have you been doing what you so passionately dislike? Good question. I’ve been struggling to find an answer my entire adult life, and particularly the last 24 hours, since I began MENU PLANNING.

I submit to you that it’s my German side. Dad was primarily German. Mom is primarily Irish. The Irish in me loves (among other things) freedom, fun, and red hair. And angst. Ever noticed how many Irish poets and writers are filled with angst? And the humor? Dark and ironic, (with another side being light and sweet (I.e.: “when Irish eyes are smiling”, etc). We’ll discuss this another time.)

Now, the German side. I love order. Planning ahead is important to me, and I’ve been told I’m slightly neurotic when it comes to caring about miniscule detail. These qualities don’t always play nicely with freedom. Hence, the angst. They conflict and collide, and angst is the natural outcome. Therefor, I submit to you that I MENU PLAN because I’m Irish. Wait, I thought it was because I’m German. Confusion abounds! Welcome to my world.

Hey, at least I’m inconsistent.

Love to you, going now to execute the meal PLAN, feeling edgy,
Miss Mary Clare

P.S. Do you MENU PLAN? Why? And if you do, are you still in one piece? Or, do you feel, as I do, that you are living two lives? Help!

Baby Bib-alicious Part the Second

Previously on Baby Bib-alicious:

….Cutting? Noooo! You’ll ruin it!

Friends, I write today to assure you that the scary scissor escapade ended beautifully. As I cut a wider-than-I needed front piece for the bib (using the back of the shirt, the side that wasn’t stained, and the side seems), I realized that I could use the strips I was thereby creating as ties. And, to top it off (pun intended), the sleeves may as well remain for extra coverage.

But enough with words. You can see for yourself.

This is it. The bib. I could have stopped here, waited for babe to wake, and commenced with tying it on and feeding her the standard breakfast of bananas and yogurt. This is double-knit fabric, so it won’t unravel.

But see those scalloped edges? They are down right pretty. The cut edges seemed unfinished in contrast, and since my sewing machine was already set up, I went ahead and folded over each of them to sew it down, creating a hem. This also gave it more structure, so it may last a little longer. We’ll see!

Here’s a handy picture showing the cuts.

Here’s a list of the cuts so that you can make this bib yourself:

1. Wide front panel (remove).

2. 2-4 inches out towards the side seems from front panel, cut straight up to the shoulder seem. This becomes the ties.

3.  Chop off long sleeves, making them short sleeves.

And that’s it! Simply put on child and tie, or hem the rough edges first. A half hour, or less, well spent. A garment destined for re-use finds meaning again in life.

Love,

Miss Mary Clare