2012 Christmas Season

I often procrastinate about putting up our Christmas tree. It seems like a chore because I am often very picky about how it looks. I like something on nearly every branch, lol. This year I ‘recycled’ some of our decorations from previous years. I finally decided on Radko ornaments with multi-color accessories. Once the tree is completed, I am glad that I have finished it. I often wonder why I procrastinate when I know that I will be pleased once the project is done. I like the way it turned out. It is bright and cheery. 

I also like the tree timer. I wake up to a lit tree in our dark living room. It is such a calm and peaceful feeling to enjoy the tree in the stillness of the morning.

I really miss seeing the grandkids during the holiday season. Some of my grandchildren I have not seen in a few years and I really miss them. Some of the grandchildren we see more often and that is very nice, yet I miss them too.

My adult children live far away. I wish them love and happiness as they celebrate the season in their homes. 

I hope you have a joyous and happy holiday season. 

I'm having a bad day.

Today was yet another reminder of what I cannot do for Kristen. (Kristen is my special needs daughter.) She has a field trip to tour a facility that I can never afford to send her too, and that there is no funding for… well, there is funding if I am willing to fill out the overwhelming paperwork for AND to wait the 57 years (literally, not just a random number) to qualify for… oh wait, by then she will have aged out of the program. So, why jump through all the hoops to fill out paperwork, which will probably be filled out wrong and disqualified, to wait on a list for funding, which is longer than her life expectancy?  I’m tired of visualizing Kristen watching Dora for the rest of her life. I’m tired of feeling hopeless. I’m tired of crying. I’m not looking for a pity party, I don’t need any comments, I’m just having  a “day”. 

Easter Dresses for my triplet granddaughters

I have decided to sew Easter dresses. I found a cute chocolate bunny applique HERE that I just loved. 

I then found some Easter fabric that repeated the chocolate bunny theme. I was lucky to find coordinating fabric in three different colorways, so that the dresses would all be different, but still “the same”. The photo shows a lemon-yellow fabric, but I later found a lime-green fabric that I thought matched the Easter fabric better. I went with the lime-green. 

Next, the hardest part for me… is making a dress pattern. I didn’t want to buy a pattern so I looked at MANY dresses online, and some tutorial links (the most helpful tutorials for me are HERE and HERE). I finally created my own pattern. Pattern making is difficult when the girls are not nearby to measure them or to test the pattern on them. I had to step-out and just take the risk and hope that the dresses will fit them.

Fabric washed, ironed, and ready to cut. Here, I stalled… scared to cut… but alas, I cut all the fabrics. I was able to apply the bunny applique without calling my daughter, Kira, for advice. J I finished the first “sample dress”. I did not intend to make a “sample dress”, but after I saw the placement of the bunny applique, I renamed the dress “sample” and moved forward. My husband, Jim, made another run to the fabric store to buy replacement fabric for me. *Thank you, Jim!

I finally finished the three dresses, with lots of missteps. I was happier with my second attempt at the applique placement, but it was still not quite what I wanted. I discovered my blunder and I’ll do the applique differently next time. I made mistakes on my dress pattern too; I figured out the miscalculation and I made adjustments to the pattern.  I am hopeful that these mistakes won’t be too noticeable when the girls wear the dresses. The dresses do not look like I had envisioned them. Luckily, the girls are only 18 months old so they won’t notice.

I am reluctant to send the dresses because I am disappointed in them, but I am sending them anyway. I am trying to set aside my pride and perfectionism. This is difficult for me because I have a fear of getting my feelings hurt if anyone should make fun of the dresses (which I would take personally as making fun of me, which it is not, but sometimes I can be shallow). But, I guess that fear is vanity on my part, and something that I will have to learn to deal with. After all, it is not about me. It is about me taking my time and effort to try and make a gift for the girls. The main focus is the gift, and the girls, and not me. So, into the mail the dresses will go. I will use this as a learning experience. As I have stated to in the past, I hope they see the love and not the stitches!

I am learning, teaching myself as I go, on many different levels. I am getting better at setting a goal and finishing a project. In the past I would have just quit. I am trying to teach myself to continue to muddle through to completion. I’m not where I want to be, but I am moving in the right direction. Happy Easter!