thrift store finds, cont.

So Iz!  Both the frog puppet and the little blouse said to me, "I am dear and sweet and your little munchkin will twirl with happiness when she sees me!"  It was immediately true of the frog, but a bit warm to be thrilled about the blouse.  If she would just stay small enough to wear the blouse in the fall, I'd be so happy to photograph her in it.

$22.84 Summer Sale

This picture is missing a little Iz jacket and a frog puppet. 
Whoo.  I had to drag myself out of this place because I was sure I exceeded my "hat money" budget.  I am so jazzed about the lamps, and the shoes, because I have been looking for lamps and brown shoes at retail stores, thinking that I'd be OK with paying full price for "the right thing" if I saw it.

An interesting experience

The only place to beat the heat here in central California is underground.  (or in a heavily air conditioned home, ahem)

So we went underground.

Yes, we ran there.   -OK, we drove, my kids were the only people running.

My big Man could barely walk through the tunnels.  He ponked his head a few times.

This picture was taken from two levels underground.  Let's call it, sub basement level -or, 60 degrees on a triple digit day.

studying...

I am spending all my time doing very mundane student, mom, sister, wife things.  Which means that I am looking very very forward to being finished with summer school, and want to do even less once finals are over tomorrow afternoon.

Unfortunately, there are so many plans and projects that were tabled so that I could focus on getting two core classes out of the way.  I had not been able to get into a Psych or American Government class during the regular school year because they fill up, so I thought, Summer school!  But Gee, it is terrible.  I mean... It requires of me several things that are difficult for me compounded in minor ways.


First, I am not a morning person, neither are the members of my household.  Nonetheless, I signed up for a class that meets daily at 8 am, across town, in the direction that nowhere I would be going at 8am is.  So I spend my first class only partially conscious.  This might sound funny, but, indeed, it is not.  I have always had a morning problem.  I have always required more than an average amount of sleep.  But for some reason I thought this was a conditioning issue or a failure of motivation.  Turns out I just have to be up for about three hours before I am fully awake.  It's bad.  I actually slur slightly during my first few moments of speaking before 10am.  I yawn, and stretch until near noon!  It would be comical if it were not pathetic.  I feel as if this would be "normal" for someone who partied all night, but not normal for -- Well, it is certainly not optimal for performance.

Second, I had never developed study skills.  I am very well read.  I enjoy reading almost everything.  I am not good at paying attention or sitting still, but I take meticulously detailed notes, and the writing of them helps me to commit to the material.  I also try to make every learning experience as personal.  This means that I take my grade seriously, and I find a way to relate to material on a personal level in order to commit it to memory.  I make it valuable however tenuously I tie it to my life.  This is not enough to do well in challenging classes.   I forget this every time there is a test.

Third, I am more committed to my children than to the schedule.  So, homemade sidewalk paint trumps making flash cards and searching through the laundry for matches to socks and favorite underwear for children comes before reviewing my notes most mornings. 

So I need to find a way to do the morning thing, at least until I don't have morning classes.  I can get up earlier and eat better.  I can do my readings in a more timely matter and tell those spoiled kids of mine to wait... 

Hopefully that lasts and helps.

Shoppers, me and my girls, we three

 Iz likes to buy the grab bags and then keep even the weirdest stuff that comes in them.


She is my hard core shopper.  She's not looking for anything specific.  She even likes to shop for other people and keeps her eyes open for things that are blue or have Elephants for me.

These are the other things I bought, it's missing E's dolphin toy.  I spent $13.17 with my coupon from shopping on Tuesday.  I was able to give my extra coupon to the couple in front of me in line, a Spanish speaking man and his bilingual female companion, with whom I spoke while we waited in a VERY long line to pay for our purchases.  Iz and E also chose the phone, since it has been a very long time since we had a land line, this is a novelty for them.  Yesterday the phone was very popular, and the play with it is ongoing, as my youngest just informed me that the dress she ordered will be delivered when it is ready.  "The shop will call on the new phone" she assures me.

Isn't this clock wildly charming?  I cleaned it up, put batteries in it, and it works like a champ.  Now I am going to find a spot for it in the craft room.  Even the Man said it was perfect.

 

This was from going on Tuesday with the Man.  We stopped by quickly on our drive home [he picked me up from school].  It was a nice surprise trip.

I have a thing for wooden hangers.  When they are half off they cost 14 cents!

In Three Months

 Iz told me this is her "crime hat".  She's a comic genius.

What have I been doing in the last three months?  Uh...
Part of me thinks, Lots of nothin'! and the other part of me can't even begin to summarize all the everything that's been going on.  Mostly, the mundane running around typical of a family of five.  But also the less mundane things that occasionally pop in the lives of families that find their lives having radically changed in the last year.  And then the craziness that seems somehow specific to our family.  I will spare you any drama.  Let's say it's been, by turns, exhausting, exciting and at times, seemingly more than I could handle, but look:  I'm still here!
School:  My princess E did a swift turn around, from being far behind a month after our move to being completely caught up three months later.  Little Iz will start Kindergarten in the fall, and I finished Spring Semester with straight As.  It was grueling.  Not one specific aspect, but the total experience.  As they say, all's well....

It's been expensive going to school.  The campus is on the way to nothing nearby and I do not have my own car.  Textbooks, even used, are ridiculously expensive.   I feel as if I should make something extravagant out of the ones I could not sell, like a huge paper sculpture.   But I really don't need any more projects giving me looks when I neglect them.  I also have the urge to burn them.  Though I don't think I could bring myself to do so.

What else, what else?  Despite all my misgivings about yard sales, I've decided to have one the first weekend of July.  I am just not as much of a people person as I should be, and also, if no one wants my yard sale stuff, I do not look forward to taking any of it to second hand stores....  Because it's going one way or another.  I've told my kids they can buy a single new toy if they make enough to pay for it.  This inspired them each to give away her sister's toys.  So, it's been a challenge.   This is all part of our paring down our possessions.  So many things!  So many really nice things that never get played with.

Mermaid tail skirts: Free + ten hours (approximate and full of interruptions)

 

It may be that others never require mermaid clothes on a moment's notice (or, let's say, a few weeks notice that turns into three days because mermaid tails came after school and housework and sleep).  But, in our household, these are the challenges that become minor triumphs.
I had something completely different in mind.  Then I went and used the iron without checking the setting and melted the perfect turquoise fabric I'd cut for my first idea.  So I thought, OK, find a fabric that is unlikely to melt and start again.  I knew I wanted to make the flipper part quilty without making it country quilted or overly elaborate.  Even these simple stitches ended up taking ages since I don't sew knits a lot and am using a new machine.  This was made from an XL mens t-shirt, purchased for 50 cents at a thrift store, and padded with a sweater that had a bleach accident.  I made two, with slight variations, and am thinking of making a half dozen at a later date (there are three non-school weeks in May-June I am thinking of).