a hippy chick

It was spent in a frenzy of shopping and suggesting, wrapping, unwrapping, finding batteries, patching up scraped knees, making snacks, turning off cartoons and then turning them on again, and it’s over for another year.

The camera battery died just before I revealed the bike on the front porch, but there will be many pics to come (if I can ever coerce him back on it).  He fell, having insisted on riding on the sidewalk (lumpy, bumpy, and straight downhill) with no knowledge of how to brake or steer.  Despite the training wheels, those bumps don’t mess around.  He’s okay…just a scraped knee and a bruised ego.

He and I both received wonderful presents and I’m so thankful and grateful that his Christmas was full and beautiful despite my inability to go overboard like I always want to. It’s not about the gift, but about the spirit of giving, and I’m glad I had no chance to try to prove that otherwise!  His favorite toy? A $2 Batman flashlight I picked up after Halloween and stuck in his stocking.  Ah, kids.  It’s wonderful, really.

Another whole week and 3 days before work calls, and I’ll be making the trek to the Home Depot to buy some tiny supplies for my next project.  Until then I’m just catching my breath, packing up all the decorations, and returning to some semblance of normalcy around here.

Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

On the Twelve Days of Christmas, I gaave to myself
Some house stuff that sorely needed help

The first day was the living room, I tackled it quite well
Drilled a few hole-es, hung a few she-elves, made a few curr-tains
ANDDDDDDDDDDD it is done!

From this to this, I know~ it’s not so very much
But it still makes me fee-el soo good

 Living Room before–my landlady’s table

After:

Not sure what to do about the cords, but I’ll think of something.

Then, I found this beautiful material I bought before the pill was born.  I was going to use it to make curtains in his nursery.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  I used some insta-bond or whatever that stuff is and made a quick pocket hem. I like to use terms I have no concept of even if they’re incorrect.  It doesn’t help with privacy, but it makes me feel better that there’s something just a little bit extra there. 

You can tell I’m not a seamstress…there’s no hem and I cut them too short, it’s not even particularly straight.  And I don’t care. 

Then I’ve been working on lead-ing the “stained glass windows” that I painted last week.  The light shines in beautifully when the sun is up.

My goal is to have a room that makes me feel peaceful and happy.  I’m nearly there…I’d like to have a couch of my own (this one is the landlady’s that was in the garage), a couple of end tables, a comfy chair, and some art.  But it will get there!

I’m signing off for the next few days.  May you and yours have a happy Christmas, Yule, Festivus, Hannukah, and all that jazz.  Much love…

Rachel

Something sort of–okay, incredibly–strange happened this year.

Mr. A bought me a present. A really nice one.  He bought me a digital camera so that I can have something to post decent pictures with.  He took the old (5.0 megapixel Canon we bought in 2004) and gave me this one with such a gracious spirit. 

I’m trying not to be on the lookout for strings, or the other shoe to drop, or anything that would make me cynical or suspicious.  It’s just wonderful, really, and an answer to prayer.  There’s no way I could buy the camera I really want, or even what PW gets for her 7 year old.  When you have about 2% of your income to play around with, you get careful and creative.  But I don’t think I need such a grand camera, either.  I’ve had to sort of modify my thinking in that area, having always been of the opinion that the best (priciest, highest quality, etc) was what I was worth and damn it, that’s what I was going to have!  That got me into lots of debt, and as I look around…that stuff hasn’t been worth it.  Nor has it stood the test of time any better than cheaper stuff.

So I’ll use the camera –with 10 mpx, which should mean better quality no matter how badly I shoot–for recipes and get it sticky, I’m sure.  I’ll use it for pill’s programs and mauling the dog by “loving him”.  I’ll use it for Christmas morning when he sees his bike for the first time.  I won’t adjust the settings properly, and I’ll forget to recharge the battery at a critical moment.  But I’ll look at it, small, plum colored, and new, in my hand. And I’ll remember that my onetime love and the person I’m trying to build a friendship with gave it to me because he wanted to.

Thank you.

Scratch.

Bribe pill with a movie so I can sleep in.

Eat caramels.

Throw on any available clothes to make a trip to the Home Depot.

Exhausted from the drive, fall onto couch and eat caramels for dinner.

Think about weatherproofing windows.

Spray cleaner on pet-soiled carpet.

Drink an adult beverage.

Change pill’s movie.

Scratch.

Go to bed.

Repeat every 24 hours until bored.

But hey! cleaning up puke is a WAY better idea! What fun!!

Dear dog,

I can’t tell you the pleasure it gives me to see that you’ve managed to figure out how to get upstairs while I’m gone.

That pleasure is compounded by the fact that you chose the only carpeted room in the entire house to anoint.

Which is compounded by the fact that you won’t go poop at 6 a.m. when I’m freezing my ass off.

Which brings me to this realization: you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?