Christmas Closet Organization!

Several weeks ago when I was straightening up our master bedroom, I complained to the husband that I didn't have a good way to organize my shoes. For the last few years I've been keeping my shoes on the floor on my end of our walk in closet. This means that typically my shoes have been in a giant heap without order except for maybe a few weeks a year after I got a cleaning bug and straightened them into rows. The pile below is what the shoes looked like after I'd moved them out of my closet recently, but the shoe pile in my closet before I'd moved them was a pretty similar sight. Trying to find the right pair of shoes in the morning when I'm in a hurry to get ready hasn't been easy. I've developed the bad habit of not putting shoes away in the closet, leaving them on the bedroom floor made them easier to find in the morning. Well, the husband heard me and decided to fix my problem...he is a skilled cabinet maker and has a full cabinet shop - I'm not sure I ever got around to mentioning it, but we built a shop on our property this year where he was able to relocate all of his equipment and machinery. He made me the shoe shelf...I'm pretty pleased with it. I can't imagine what we would have paid to have someone make this custom shelf for us...and I love that it matches the other closet units he's made in the past.

Getting the new shoe organizer of course made me go through my shoes with a pretty critical eye - when I was done I had a nice little donate pile. As you can see below, if I want to keep my shoes off the floor - and I do - I don't really have the space for any more shoes. I guess I could go with the option of storing off-season shoes that I know I won't wear for several months...and maybe I will eventually. I also think I'll make a point of trying to get rid of a worn out pair of shoes when I bring home a new pair. I like having my shoes up off the ground because I can better see how worn they are. Maybe because the light to the floor of my closet is blocked by hanging clothes, I was kind of suprised at the kind of shape some of my shoes were in. I just hadn't noticed.

It can't be good for shoes to be kept in a big heap either, I'm sure some of the "wear" that I was noticing could have probably been prevented if my shoes had been stored properly.

To have a clear floor in my closet is wonderful, it makes using the closet and putting things away so much more pleasant...being as busy as I am, this really was the perfect gift. I appreciate anything that makes life feel more organized and manageable in the midst of my very busy schedule. The husband "gave" me this gift a few days before Christmas, he was very excited to get my reaction. Once the shelf was in, it inspired quite a bit of further cleaning and organizing. I appreciate anything that makes life feel more organized and manageable in the midst of my very busy schedule.

Speaking of busy schedules, I have loved having the last week off, I needed the chance to rest and catch up. We had a wonderful Christmas day...fun times playing new board games together, good food, lots of laughter. It's also wonderful that I still have a week left before returning to work. This time of rest will make pushing myself easier. I can't imagine life always being this busy, as a matter of fact, I have found myself saying just that in conversations with friends recently. Even though I love what I'm doing, I know I couldn't continue at this pace for forever. But for now, I am grateful to have a job that is both fulfilling and well paying.

I'm sure I'll be around here sometime in the next few days, I hope the rest of 2010 is as restful for you as the past week has been for me!

An Embarassment of Riches!

Remember when Dupree says something about *An Embarassment of Riches* in the movie "You, Me and Dupree", I always loved that line because that's how I feel when a bunch of fantastic things all happen to me within a day or two. I want to share because I'm excited, but at the same time, I don't want to be boastful. It's almost embarassing how good I feel. So I will try to err on the side of "I'm just sharing this because I am so excited and it made me smile, not because I am bragging". Okay, so this is the second post of the day for me...but I just couldn't hold off on this one...

I took a last minute substitute job this morning and I literally had 20 minutes to get ready and out the door. This has happened a couple of times, and the husband is always super helpful, starting my car to get it warmed up, pouring my juice and setting out my vitamins, he even collects my laptop and all the cords and cards that go with it so I can do my online work during the teacher's prep period. It's very sweet, he's quite the keeper. I guess he was feeling just as appreciative of me for being willing to get up and take the sub job even though we'd been up late having one of those great conversations that seem to only happen late at night. So to show his appreciation he suprised me by spending 4 hours cleaning our house, and it looks and smells fantastic. This is after he suprised me last night by bringing home episodes 1-8 of Season 3 of Big Love (I gave up HBO a while back to save us some $, Big Love was/is my favorite show, and I've missed it!) And as if that wasn't enough, he had another suprise for me when I came home...another set of raised beds for our garden. There are four of them, two that measure 4'x10' and two measuring 4'x12'. He hit the hardware store for the lumber and then cut and assembled the frames in our garage.They will still need to be given a coat of weather sealing paint. Then we will lay down landscaping cloth and fill the beds with an enriched soil that is sold specifically for vegetable gardens. The biggest successes of our garden last season were with the crops we grew in our raised beds, the soil is good and it's much easier to keep weeds at bay. Needless to say, I'm excited, a clean house and raised beds on the same day! Now it's time to start thinking about buying/ordering seeds!

By the way, the picture of Figaro above has nothing to do with what I shared, though he does look particularly happy and I'm pretty happy, so maybe it does work!

Happy Birthday, Turbo!

It's the husband's birthday today...and right now he's literally on the other side of the world. It's an understatement to say I miss him. How can I put into words how much I wish he was here or I was there? When my most important person isn't here, I can get through the tasks of my day, but I still feel a little lost.

These feet, that will stay in their favorite pair of hiking boots even during a nap, are right now on the other side of the world in the country of Egypt!

Of course I'm independent and can take care of myself and our home, but it is nice to share life's responsibilities with my best friend. It's also nice to share downtime...lately we've been able to get more of that together.

He sometimes hangs out in my office while I work or sew...just to be in the same room.

I like the sweet things he does for me even when he doesn't have to, makes me want to turn around and do the same. I noticed from the start of our relationship that the give and take balance between us was amazing...no other relationship I'd had prior had been that way - I guess that's why it worked out and we got married :-)

He fills up my car - even when I'm the driver.

Our house doesn't feel the same when he's not here. Even Figaro and Bambino are different when he's not here, it's like they know that our "pack" is missing it's leader. I've always been the one to nurture and cuddle them, but the husband is their authority figure as well as the one who plays and rough houses with them, they definately shine in a unique way when he gives them attention and plays with them.

I've never seen a cat trust someone as much as Fig trusts his dad.

Before he left, I was able to take him to a couple of his favorite local spots...Snow Goose Produce for the biggest ice cream cones you've ever seen, I literally scrape about half off of mine off each time and still it's a huge scoop. It's a fun place to visit, they are located off of a country road, right smack dab in the middle of a bunch of farm fields. It's pretty common to see heavy farm machinery drive by while we sit and enjoy our cones. As their name says, they also have wonderful produce...remember the picture of the big, ugly, sweet carrots? That was at Snow Goose. So I've always liked going there, but it wasn't until we discovered the ice cream that the husband has really enjoyed it like I do...we're both happy.

Because chocolate causes him migraines, he always ends up with some variation of vanilla with caramel, his favorite.

The other place I took him recently is our favorite burger spot, Fiamma, up in Bellingham. It's always a winner for us. It is on the way to/back from Mt. Baker, so I imagine when we go up there to snowboard this winter, we'll be stopping for dinner at Fiamma's pretty much every time.

A trip to Fiamma always makes for a great day!

It helps to think that he's doing things that he loves on his trip, things he wouldn't be able to do on his birthday if he were home...first meeting his oldest friend in Cairo, then the two of them travelling to the Red Sea to go diving. They were certified to dive together on a trip they took to Austrailia a few months before I met the husband. So, this is kind of a fun return for the husband to his "bachelor days", he's said a few times recently that it will be fun to do a "guys trip". He doesn't often get to do that sort of thing.

After that, they're traveling back to Cairo and meeting up with the rest of their Habitat for Humanity team for building. The husband is a builder by trade here, but he has never built a brick and mortar house, so I'm sure he is going to be learning some new masonry skills. I don't know how modernized the building methods are going to be, so it will be interesting to hear him share about his experiences. He has an amazing work ethic, so his team will benefit. I don't know too many other people who work as hard as he does.

Always one to stay busy, he uses his tractor to do work on our property and for other people.

Once the build is over I'll be flying into Cairo. We're going to have a few days there to see the pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza. I'm also excited to find some markets/bazaars to do some shopping. I'm horrible when it comes to bartering for a better price, but I've learned that it is expected there....so maybe this will be my chance to work on that. I definately want to find some Egyptian cotton to use in the quilt I want to make for our bed...a piece big enough to use as the backing would be great. Right now I'm trying to focus on life here, getting work and some sewing done, giving both pets lots of love, and even enjoying the things that are benefits to being home alone: eating strange combinations of food that only I find appetizing, spending too much time plucking my eyebrows, the floors staying clean for more than a day after I've mopped/vacuumed them, sleeping diagonally on the bed (or not!), watching shows on tv that I know would irritate him...you know, the stuff you don't realize is so great before you live in the same house as the love of your life!

So cheers to the husband on his 39th birthday spent on the African continent, and cheers to me being temporarily single in a round-a-bout kind of way.

Letter for 38

A letter to my husband who is travelling overseas:

Darling today is the last day of your 38th year...and a year from tomorrow you will say goodbye to your 30's. Live it up, my love, fully enjoy every part of your trip and of course embrace this next year with your usual energy and drive. I'm proud to be married to someone who goes out and lives his dreams! I'm happy that you are going to get to dive on your birthday tomorrow, that's so perfect! I will be there with you in just a little more than a week...

Your wife

Overnight, the husband emailed me the picture above of the hotel on the Red Sea where he is staying. He was in the Red Sea diving while I slept...time zones are weird! It looks lovely, just thought I'd share it. He's having a great time, the diving is a huge part of that of course! I miss him terribly, but then I also know how much he needs this time, kind of a torn feeling.

When I got out of bed this morning, I kind of chuckled a bit at the way the bed looked, so I decided to snap a picture to share (side note: I have to apologize for the quality of my pictures this week, I'm using my the camera on my phone because I don't have my digital camera). I know I said I was going to take advantage of being alone and sleep diagonally, but I guess this picture is proof that I'm too practical for that. I figured out that if I don't put any of the decorative pillows on the floor, but pile them up on the husband's side instead, making the bed is super quick, takes about half the time since only half of it was slept in! Excuse the crooked bed skirt and the stuff on the floor - I'm in the midst of starting to pack and laundry right now!

And He's Off...

Earlier today I had to go somewhere to do something that I didn't really want to do, something that made me sad. On my way home from that task, I decided to stop at Trader Joe's for a little grocery shopping...and because of my sad mood I decided that a little chocolate is in order. I'm not exactly in tip top physical shape right now, and because I'm trying to change that, this chocolate is going to have to last me exactly ten days. Why ten days? Because that's how long it will be until I return to the airport, this time not to drop off the husband, but to catch a flight myself.

At the end of that journey, I will get to see the husband again, and I'll be in Cairo Egypt, to boot! It's only been a few hours since I hugged and kissed him goodbye, but damn it I miss him already!

The Bon Voyage Has Begun...

I have spent a good part of this Sunday afternoon at my sewing machine...it's beautiful outside, but cold, so I prefer to be in the sunshine in my window to get my daily vitamin D, without having to put on a jacket.

One of the projects I completed was making this camera pouch for the husband for his trip. His old digital camera is on it's last leg, so he is going to borrow mine for the first part of his trip. For the second part of the trip I will be bringing his nice Nikon camera with me so he can use it to take pictures while we go sight-seeing. So, I have a camera case for my digital that the husband actually bought for me a couple of years ago for Christmas...the things is that it is pretty girly, it has a cute flower print on it. Not exactly his style. Also, he's going to keep the camera in his pocket while he is doing his Habitat build, so it needed to be protected but still compact.

I made this case pretty quickly...it's lined with black felt to protect the camera from any kind of bumps or scratches. The fabric is one that he picked out for a different project I worked on for him some time ago...I have sinced used it on onesies and as part of the quilt I made for a friend. I still had plenty left over to make this little pouch. When I gave him the pouch and the camera to add to his luggage, he was pleased with how it turned out. I tripple stiched all of the seams so that it will hold together for the trip.

The camera fits just right in the pouch...not a bit of extra space in there!

So he's one more step closer to being ready to go on Tuesday...it's going to be quiet here without him for ten days!

I know I already mentioned this...

But I have to say again just how much I am loving myh new desk as I am now working from home...it has all made me feel very lucky! Here are a couple of pictures from morning... ...and from afternoon.

There are lots of sides to the contentment and serenity I've been feeling as I've been making this transition! By the way, the beer was for when I'd finished my work. I'm just sayin'!

My New (Upcycled) Desk

First of all I have to say Welcome to September! I am feeling very much in the fall spirit, yesterday on my grocery trip I picked up a six pack of my favorite fall beer. For the long Labor Day weekend, the husband and I are going out to the Gorge to a Dave Matthews Band concert this weekend, actually our real reason for going is to see G-Love and Special Sauce, one of our favorite singers/bands, DMB just happens to be the main attraction for most people going. We are going to stay out that way in Yakima and do some wine tasting as well. I think we both need the break, life has been busy. We are still feeling the economic crunch, we'll survive all of it, but the anxiety has been rough at times. A little get-a-way will help with that.

I began training for my new job last night (fall is always go-back-to-work time for teachers)Now that I'm going to be working from home, I have been in the midst of turning my sewing room/guest room into my sewing room/home office...and I need a real desk. Looking around I realized that any of the desks that were the right size and that I liked were typically at least $900, the one I really liked was $1200. That's just not the kind of money that I want to spend on a piece of furniture right now - actually I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money on a desk - ever. Maybe on the right dining room table, but even that wouldn't happen right now. I had about a $500 budget in mind for a new desk, but ask I looked around, anything at that price is going to be made of cheap particle board and wood laminate...basically junky furniture that will have to be replaced in a few years. I want a solid wood desk to have for a very long time. My husband is pretty handy, so even though he's been pretty busy, I thought I might ask him about making my desk...he agreed to and we went looking for material. We ended up at a store up in Bellingham, The Re-Store, that sells recycled parts of torn down buildings. We'd been there a while ago and spotted these cool chunks of gym floor. On our way there the husband mentioned in passing that he could possibly make the desk out of one of the pieces. I latched on to the idea immediately, that's just right up my alley. Of course it was still just an idea, I wanted him to be sure he could do it and that it wouldn't be too difficult or time consuming. So after checking out the pieces they had a bit, he decided to return the next day with his truck to buy a piece of the floor.This piece here measured about 4'x12' and was so heavy that it had to be loaded in the truck by 3 men. See the cool lines on the floor - they were hand painted, when you look closely you can see where the lines aren't completely perfect, the tape must not have been completely straight.He cut the piece right in his truck so it would be easier to unload it single-handedly at his shop.He spent two days at his shop turning the piece of floor into my new desk. Because his shop is not at our house, I only saw pictures at first.Once the desk was home, it had to be sprayed with a laquer, then brought up to my new home office. We also had to get drawer pulls attached. I spent a good amount of yesterday moving all of my things into the desk, it has very smooth, deep drawers, my belongings fit excellently. Before I moved everything into it (and onto the desk top as well), I snapped several pictures. I am incredibly impressed with my new desk, it makes me soooooo happy! Eventually I want to get a new desk chair, but all in good time. The picture below shows how the husband used the original floor boards, with their tounge in groove joints to make new drawer fronts.

The top drawers are shallow, perfect for small items, the middle drawer is fairly deep, and the bottom drawer is the deepest, the right size for files. All the sizes were to my specifications, I love the proportions.

Although he could have sanded the old gym floor lines off, I asked the husband not to, I like the character they give the desk...it's unique. The lines are reminders that this desk had a past life in a gym.

I took this picture to show that there are still sneaker skuffs on the floor - that's what the black streak at the bottom-left of the picture is. Again, that could have been sanded out, but seeing it makes the history of my desk come alive.

On the center drawer there is a red scuff, I guess some athlete had red rubber on their Nike's.

On his way out of the Re-Store, the husband happened to ask what gym the floor had been in. The employees informed him that it had been in Carver Gym at Western Washington University...I've since found this story about the gym floor removal. I love it that my desk had a former life, it's probably the coolest piece of furniture I've ever owned. It seems appropriate that I'm starting my new job as an online instructor with this desk as my main hub...it also makes this transition feel official and special. I've longed for a while now to be able to continue my career while still being able to make my home my center. It's been a good amount of work to turn our former guest room into an appropriate office (and sewing room!) for me...this desk really makes the room! Once again, I know how lucky I am that my spouse thinks of what I want and what is right for me and is willing to do more and put out extra effort so those things happen.

By the way, I am not sure of a final figure on the cost of the desk, some of the materials to make the drawers were things that were already on hand - my husband makes cabinets for the kitchens in the houses he builds, so even though there was an original price tag on some things, they were already purchased and available for this project. The actual piece of flooring was about $100, the charge per square foot was $2 and like I mentioned before the piece was about 4'x12'. I got the drawer pulls at Target - I know I originally said I was planning to go to Anthropologie, but Target had the style that I liked and they were convenient and a good price, about $24 for all seven drawer pulls. There was also the cost of the laquer, some maple plywood for parts of the frame, the tracks that the drawers slide on - they slide so smoothly, I love it! All in all, it was probably about $200-$250. Less than I'd budgeted for a one of a kind desk. Obviously I couldn't have made it by myself, and paying a cabinet maker (that I am not married to) to make it, would have made the whole thing much more expensive. Okay, I love my desk, end of story!

Finishing Up

This post is going to be full of promises of future posts, kind of the nature of what is going on in my life...so much keeping me busy that I have to tackle one thing at a time or else end up too overwhelmed to do anything. Sooo, the picture above is representative of two things...one, it is the top surface of my new desk. It is finished up as far as the husband's building it...but it still needs drawer pulls. The drawers are built flush with the fram of the desk, a beautiful, very clean looking effect, but inorder to be able to open the drawers and properly use the desk, I need drawer pulls. The plan is to make it down to one of my favorite stores ever, Anthropologie, to see if they've got what I want. Really, any excuse to go to that store is fine by me, the closest one is down in Seattle (there are two stores there actually), which is about a 45 min to 1 hour drive on a no-traffic Sunday...perfect! The flower in the milk bottle vase is kind of part of a new promise to myself. I've been trying to keep fresh flowers on my bedstand, sometimes just a single stem, and I'd like to do the same on my new desk in my new home office. Recently I've been bringing in sunflowers and dahlias, since that's what is in bloom in my garden. As the fall and winter approach I may have to become a little more creative about where I get my flowers, I may even have to (dread) buy them. So, that is my goal...so simple, but it makes me happy!

So far the first half of today has been a time to finish up a few projects. I begin training for my new job on Monday - this will be the first time that I've started a new job while staying at home. I think the idea of working from home is still very odd to me, I guess it hasn't sunk in completely. If I were to talk with a friend who works from home about their job, I'd still experience a little bit of longing, wishing that I could have their situation...I guess it hasn't hit me that I do have that situation. Again, it's still kind of odd to me.

But, I have felt a little anxious about finishing up some projects that have been put off to the side for the past few weeks. One of those is the quilt for a friend's baby that I showed a little sneak preview of the other day. The other project is two nursing covers ie- "Hooter Hiders" or "Bebe au Laits". I am making them for the same gal that I made a Happy Birthday banner for not too long ago. She's an amazing mother of 5 with her 6th on the way. I admire her not just for enormity of her task, 6 children is alot! But, I also admire her because she's been able to trust me, someone who has never made a nursing cover before, to give it my best try. In general, I appreciate that she wants to support someone in her community, it helps of course that it's me, but even if I remove myself from the equation, I still admire someone who is willing to take a different route from typical retail purchasing. I will post some pictures of the covers sometime in the next few days. I am also excited to share some pictures of the baby quilt I made, it turned out very sweet, I'm proud of my work, and I learned a ton from making it.

Actually, the quilt experience made me feel a bit braver about the idea of attempting the king sized quilt for our bed that I've been kind of dreaming about for the past several months. I've been collecting fabrics here and there in shades of blue and green, all sorts of patterns. The fabrics have been purchased locally, but also on our trips to Brazil, NYC, and Hawaii. It is going to be a big project, so I'll probably wait until after I'm settled into my new routine to get started. But, doing a quilt that turned out nicely gave me the confidence to imagine being able to successfully make my dream quilt.

That's probably enough rambling for now, I've got things to do!

Lots Happening Here

It's been a busy week. I had a few friends that I know from my last job over for a little lunch party...it was fun to set a nice table, I hadn't done that in a while. The flowers came from my garden, sunflowers and dahlias.I have also been working on a quilt for a friend's baby...he was born a little over a week ago and has had a few health issues. I want to have the quilt finished this week so I can give it to his mama to wrap him in. I am using an all cotton batting and I am going to use a soft blue and brown striped flannel for the backing, it will coordinate perfectly with the block colors and will be smooth on his baby skin.Another thing that's going on is that this 4'x12' piece of hardwood gym floor is currently being turned into my new home office desk. It came from the RE Store in Bellingham. They sell recycled building materials from tear downs. This was from the Carver Gym at Western Washington University.I'll have more pictures to share as the desk and the quilt are finished up. It seems like the next week is only going to get busier and busier.

New Items Made Last Week

This post will have to be photo-heavy and word light. I am spending this week catching up on house chores and getting ready to go away for a few days to Whistler BC with the husband and stepson. I may get a little sewing in this week, I have some ideas for new pillows that I'd like to try. I also need to fire off a few more onesies for a farmers market I'm doing this next Sunday.

The pictures in this post are some of the projects I worked on last week as I prepared for the fair...it was a very full week! I did accomplish more than I would have thought I could, a nice feeling, but it was exhausting! I have to point out though that I had a little help with the garden signs - the husband did the constructing then I did the painting, a nice joint effort!

The rest and relaxation I plan to have in Whistler will be a nice balance. I may have a few post scheduled before I go, and I definately look forward to sharing pictures of our trip when I return!