Wish List

Oh my goodness what all I saw today! I went to Home Depot today to pick up some metal shelf strips for daughter's room. Now, I have gone to Home Depot a hundred times with my hubby to get supplies for what ever project or repair was happening, have even gone there a few times to pick up an essential part or such for something hubby was in the middle of. But, today, I had an experience in there that I can only relate to finding the Christmas catalog in the mail box when I was...like nine? I repeat. Oh my goodness.

Here I am dreaming, sketching out, obsessing over the new sewing room I am about to make the now empty bedroom in to. I saw all kinds of neat organizing gizmos. Now, granted most of them are for putting in a closet the size of the bedroom I am working on, but the thought hit me and there it is. I have a 10 foot by 10 foot space to transform in to a sewing slash craft studio. So why not dress it out like a closet? Now, I am not complaining by any means about the size, after all before I packed all the sewing stuff away I only had a little corner of the bedroom and it served me very well. Although, hubby had to learn to sleep with the noise of a machine going, a light in his face, and the sound of the TV going.

I was very happy spending my days and nights making quilts, crocheting, hand embroidery for crazy quilting embellishment and machine embroidery. Joining trades and swap with people from all over the world. Of course, 95% of my work went to various charities, but I felt pretty good with myself when I worked on something. That is until I got a stupid brain fart and filled out an application for a job I saw in the paper. I was hired. Soon after settling in to that full time routine, the commute to and from work, dinners that didn't get prepared, clothes that didn't washed, children's events that didn't get attended, all that was going on and I just got really pissed one day and just packed it all away. No more quilting, no more swaps, no more sewing. I tried to keep doing the embellishments for some crazy quilting as that had been a new and fascinating technique I had just added to my quilting hobby, along with building up a great beginner's supply of all the essentials needed to embellish. All five machines were packed up and put away. All the sewing supplies in the drawers of my wonderfully huge desk (praying that we can manage to get it in the new room) were boxed up and put away, even labelled it all. Gifted away the bulk of my fabric stash as well. So, then I got the bright idea to get in to creating monthly menu plans, wanted to dress them up a little, so wanted to get in to stamping. Even became a Stampin Up demonstrator (huge mistake - too many quotas) and that led to scrapbooking. I admit, my very favorite thing to do is embossing. Just love to see the design and color pop, literally as it heats. At any rate, I dropped a lot of paychecks on scrapping supplies and equipment. I went to some classes, went to some crops. The last crop is when I determined that I was a total idiot when it came to figuring out what to take to a crop, I tried to take way too much of everything. I mean seriously, I would take two boxes of stamps, all my inks, embossing powders, my big case of punches, all my cutters and glues, photos as well. I think the only thing I left home was my Big Shot and Cricut (which I did take to one crop). All for what, to be snubbed. Some ladies just had their set groups and ignored everyone else, some where there and all of life is just about them and what they are doing or need to purchase, then some of them just showed up with their computer because they only do digital scrapbooking. Now, I ask you, what supplies to you need for that other than software? The classes were pricey, the projects were a state secret or something because they never gave you written directions to take home. I realized quickly that I can do the same thing at home, directions for various projects can be found on the internet or You Tube, and will end up being more productive and the best part is I can dress in my lounging attire.

Wow, had a few interruptions, helping to get daughter's waterbed filled so she can sleep in her new room tonight. She is so very excited and I while I am glad to see her happy I am just really hoping that her determination to keep it clean stays around a little bit. I mean really, is it expecting too much that a girl entering high school in the fall do a little housework? Not asking her to scrub floors with a toothbrush here, just that she get the dirty dishes from her room to the kitchen, pick up the bathroom when she is done, put away her clothes. That's all. The room still isn't finished, but all that is left is the little details. Furniture is all in place, most of the clothes, tomorrow hubby will install the shelving and she can finish moving her TV and games in there.

Read back over the posting and now I know where I was heading. LOL

After putting away the sewing, getting hooked on scrapbooking, I then put all that stuff away. And let me tell you, for a baby beginner I have a lot of stuff. Let's just say that when I dive in I dive in deep and leave it at that. Now, I have had a couple of health issues come up and have had to quit my job because, as I was informed, I have used up all my time off and it wasn't even March yet. You see, we had a family reunion to attend (which only happens every three years, had been eight since the last one, and we had already paid for it all) so needed a week then. Would need at least a week coming up when oldest daughter has the new grand son (will try to take a few days more now that I don't have to be back for work) and of course I am not going to miss that one. Just waiting for her to let us know he is here and we will head that way...19 hours one way. So, now that I am home, had gotten hooked on Facebook games and getting absolutely nothing done. At least nothing that should get done. Now, I am in a time crunch to get these bedroom make overs done because my oldest son and his wife are moving out of there apartment and they have been letting me stash a sewing cabinet I got from mom until I could get the rooms done. Oh, and did I mention that I am getting back the couch I let them have when I got my new living room furniture? It is a great couch, and I will enjoy sitting on it doing hand work this winter. Just wasn't planning on it coming back so now have to figure out how to get my dad's chair in there as well. Maybe though, I will rearrange the master bedroom and put the chair in here. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The long and short of this little novel is this, I am so ready to be done with all of this so I can actually work on something fun. I still have to peel off the wall paper, paint, shampoo that carpet and then move everything in. While I won't be able to get it all done before we have to get the stuff from the kids, if I can just get the room empty I can throw a drop cloth over the couch and paint around it. That brings me back to all the cool stuff for organizing a closet at Home Depot I found and will be getting. Not all of it is for closets, some is for laundry rooms and pantries. But the idea wheel started turning in mind and is still going. They had this set up that attaches to the what like those adjustable shelf units, you know the kind that has the little hook end support brackets you place where you want and then a wooden shelf lays on it. At any rate, there is this set up that is made of wire and has baskets that slide out like drawers. My head can see all my yarn and fabric in those. Of course my mother would hate it because you would be able to see it all still, but tough. I love momma to death and am so happy she is living in the same town with me once again. Oh, along with my health issues did I mention that I have my elderly mom living here now that depends on me more and more and I don't mind at all. For twenty years I lived in another town, the last ten of which was in another state and resulting in only being able to see her once a year. Especially after my sweet dad died. As I said, I love my mom, love all my family, but I have waited too long for this room and thank God above for moving my life to this point. So, selfish as it sounds, after being a stay at home mom for 20 plus years with four children, working full time for three years, now back at home with one child (a teenager, two children if you count hubby) I am now going to create my little hide away to create my own peace, one piece at a time. I am ready, and am determined to get my good life back.

Plan or goals. Get my room created, then get all my play things out. It will be fun finding what all I still have. Then, since it has become brutally obvious (has been for a few years, but made a bit clearer lately) that every bit of house hold chores is only going to get done by me I am going to purge the fat from this house. All the clothes that don't get worn, all books that are already read and reread, all the clutter that lays around waiting to be picked up for months on end, it is all leaving. I want to have a huge yard sale, but now that it is so close to time for the baby to come, it is looking like it may be September for I can have one. But that may be a good time around here for all I have to get rid of. Another goal is to actually get in to the habit of creating and using menu plans, doing big cooking sessions once a month or so for the freezer to have some dinners ready to go. Honestly, planning the menus will save us a lot of money. I did this in the past, it worked very well, and now that there is only three of us instead of six of us, I think it will work even better. Also, I want to get all the Christmas gifts made, Christmas cards made and addressed, then spend some time working on PIGS (projects in grocery sacks) of which I have an over abundance of. I don't think I will get in nearly as many swaps as I previously have, but will always do a few. One other thing I am really looking forward to is having room to get set back up for machine embroidery. I hope to have my mom's shirt made for her birthday in October. She is now in the Red Hat Society and I found a purple shirt and some embroidery designs to make her an embroidered shirt to wear to her meetings. I also hope to finish the scrapbook album I started for her...three years ago...it was to be a Mother's Day gift.

Almost forgot, have to add something about the new green craze. I am not a green person, but I am a person that believes in using something up until it can't be used anymore. I recently found out that some ladies were using up plastic grocery sacks to crochet in to mats and just have to do it. I have a ton of bags and am always bringing home more from groceries. So, I figure why not? Then today, found the neatest article about recycling old t-shirts in yarn to crochet. I have cut so many ones up for rags it is pitiful. While they are great dust rags, they are just not very absorbent for cleaning. Although, I did come across a pattern for crocheting a Swiffer type duster that can just be thrown in the wash and thinking that it would be the perfect thing to crochet out of old t-shirts. Trust me, I am always looking for new uses for an item before tossing it.

Well, I am off soak in a tub. My back is screaming at me for spending the last few days painting, moving furniture, and sewing and ironing today. However, that little voice inside me is screaming way louder to get it done so I can make something. Ah yes, some nice soft fabric, a great quilt pattern in mind, History Channel and Law and Orders on the TV, big bag of skittles, and my Dallas Cowboy mug of ice water and I am set. I will have to do one little project of scrapping first, going to pull out the Cricut and cut out my daughter's name to attach to her wall, of her new room of course. Yeah I know, I will have to take a break from my happy projects to do the boring things like go to the gym, clean the house, cook the meals, but hey, I am going to be so organized it will almost do itself. If I don't get stuck on my farm or in the frontier. LOL