This week has been a little crazy. A little crazy with long days. And a little lonely. My girls have been sick. Sick and then better and then even sicker last night and all today. I am hoping to get them into the doctor tomorrow. When I called to let Cora's school know she wouldn't be there [again], the secretary said that 11 other children in Cora's grade had already called in for the day. I'm quite certain Magnolia has croup. She's had a mild fever, been in good spirits, but she has that signature scary sounding cough. Cora had a short-lived tummy bug, then a fever for a day and a half and started getting better, then BAM, last night, it all changed (last night is also when Goo's cough started, though it turned croup-y sounding today). Some important information in this is that about 2 years ago, Cora started refusing to take medicine in liquid form. She starts gagging when we talk about it, and as soon as it gets in her mouth, there is throw up. It makes it difficult to take antibiotics. Luckily, she's only had one ear infection in the last two years. Apparently they used to make amoxicillin in chewable tablets, but after calling several pharmacies, I was unsuccessful at tracking them down.
I think the lonely comes in after a weekend that was so very full of old friends and family in Arizona. There was hardly enough time for sleep with all of the comings and goings. It was short and lovely, and I look forward to writing more about it soon. We've been taking it easy in Dot, and that's been good for us and the rest of the world. I actually really enjoyed the first few days of just me and my girls. No school. No errands. Coloring, play dough, snuggle time, stories. It was pretty dreamy (Cora was also on the mend then). The fourth day, however, is when it hit. But I can't believe it's Thursday. So even though the days have been long, the week seems to be going by quickly enough. Jake has a busy weekend ahead, and the weekend really has no relevance to my schedule and the duties I perform seven days a week, but it's a nice focal point when trying to keep my days straight. My little stint in Arizona has well timed. It filled my reservoirs, and made me pleased with the kind of mom I've been to my girls this week, even if human contact besides my little peeps has been sparse and stark.
Even with all of the cuddling and cough syrup-ing, I've managed to be productive in a few creative endeavors this week. All are for the girls' re-made space. First, I made a banner from some old marquee letters that my mother-in-law gave to me. They were making cute holiday signs to decorate Floorplan with, and when I saw them, I knew that if they had all of the right letters, they'd be perfect in place of a monogramed valance I'd been trying to figure out in my head. I love that they can see their whole name, and the character of the letters really match the aesthetics of the space.
In our only trip out this week [me + girls] (I went to see with a friend on Monday night [Life of Pi]), I went to JoAnn's Fabric store. All of their rotary cutters and mats were 50% off, plus I had a $5 off coupon. I've been wanting one for a long while now, and with the impending curtain making, I wanted to get really crisp, even pieces of fabric. Well, folks, it was love at first cut. If I would have known how amazing cutting fabric could be, I would have purchased one years ago. I used it to cut out the fabric for the pennant banner, and it saved so much time, and all of my fabric looks perfect. And here's the really big deal: my sewing machine didn't act up once. It did make a big clunky sound once or twice, but it didn't pull the fabric down into the bobbin hole, nor did it get crazy messed up stitches on back. I only had to seam rip once because I changed my mind about something. If every sewing session was like this, I'd sew every day.
I saw this cute fabric at JoAnn's last night. I love the colors, they're much brighter in "real life."
I made a small tag blanket out of the state material when Cora was a baby. It's been one of my favorite fabrics since I first saw it. I think it's clever, and it makes me smile. Arizona just happened to make it right in the middle of one of my cuts.
Then I saw this one. It was between this one and the Granny Square one in my cart, and Cora said she liked the "spots" best. They'll be perfect. I got some white duvet covers with a bit of red embroidery while in Arizona. These afghans along with the their colorful throw pillows and simple duvet covers will be great along with their light turquoise beds (if mint green and turquoise had a baby, the color of their beds would be it).
And last but not least, today while Magnolia was napping and Cora was resting, I put up our Christmas lights. Only a day later than they day I said I would put them up. A bit of irony: I was completely sure-footed on the roof, but when I was taking my last step down to the deck from the ladder, I totally missed a rung and almost stumbled off. Luckily I was still holding onto the ladder, so I saved myself.
PS: I've had The Art Teacher by Rufus Wainwright stuck in my head this evening.
Yea for new blades and new sewing equipment! I love my rotary cutter and mat...although I learned the hard way that cutting on carpet multiple layers is not the best idea for the mat...oops!
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