I have to confess

that I was a little embarrassed when Tom and Lynn came in last night and found me sitting in the middle of this.

 I admit, I have a few too many things going at once. 

Or let's just say, I should clean up from one project before starting another.

(Cutting and glueing materials for key fobs)

Cut out keys, hardware, and note cards

 Experimenting with making a card to hold key fobs.

 Remnants of cutting keys with the cricut machine

 Letting homemade marshmallow fondant dry so I can try out

my Cricut Cake for the first time.

 Finished key fobs that we made with the girls.

I got the instructions from my friend, Wendy, and Tiffany had

the great idea of making and adding the little rag flowers.

Ok, that explains the messes. 

Now I just need to finish them one at a time. 

(But first we're going to breakfast at Magleby's

with Tom and Lynn and Gary and Lynn)

Enough, Enough

Enough.

Chocolate-cream cheese cupcakes, that is.

I made them a little smaller to experiment for the Stake Luncheon.  But, I forgot the baking soda.  The recipe calls for baking powder, too, so they came out more like a brownie-cheesecake.  They still tasted good, but were not what I wanted.  So then I made them again.  They worked better the next time.  The problem is, I've been eating them for two days (both kinds).  And here I am wanting to take off the five or so pounds I put on after the holidays.  Yes, after the holidays.  That's when the food was still here, but I wasn't being active or burning any calories or having any fun.

So, Enough!

Stop the Insanity!

(Does anyone else remember that phrase from the 70's or 80's?)

Well, it is as applicable today as it was back then.

Really, Really, Really,

ENOUGH! 

It's Saturday

morning. 

Gary is at a conference all day.

TODAY is the day.

TODAY really is the day.

I got up, put on a sweat suit and tennis shoes.

I ate breakfast, and read something to inspire me from the Ensign.

I'm geared up.

Today is the day that I am going to get all the decorations down.

Not only get ALL the decorations down,

but get rid of anything that does not give me joy.

Anything that clutters my life so I can't enjoy
and focus on what really matters.

Which today feels like my whole house,

since it is in such a disarray with the taking down of decorations.

I'll focus on the things that I just keep moving around
from one place to another

 because I don't think I can do without them.

Or because it has some sentimental meaning to me. 

Which is just about my whole house.

An intuitive mind might ask,

"If today is the day, why are you wasting your time

writing this silly blog instead of doing it."

Well, I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.

In fact, maybe I'll write tomorrows blog entry right now, too.

You know how

some blogs host contests and giveaways? 

Well, that is what I'm doing tonight!

The first person who can guess what is wrong with these mice,

 GETS ONE!

You lucky winner, whoever you are.

I finished 16 of these cute little mice tonight,

only to find that I had majorly messed up on about half of them.

Well, have you spotted the problem?

I certainly didn't notice until they were completely done.

And in the process, my machine kept messing up

(total machine error, not human).

Then I remembered that Natalie's was here,

so I took mine to be fixed and finished them with Natalie's machine.

Only to find that I had messed up on the . . . __________?

Have your accute powers of observation

detected the issue?

Sometimes I wonder about myself.

I guess I'll do anything

to avoid going down into the "Deep."

Even blog about the "Deep."

I was so tired last night that I went to bed at 9:30.

I was determined to get up early (which I did)

and go downstairs to clean out the "Deep."

I mean really clean out the "Deep."

Not just a surface clean out of the "Deep."

Well, I better stop saying "Deep"

and head down there.

FYI:  the Deep is the 4th level storage room.  We've always called it that because, well, just because it fits.  You can probably conjure up images of what is in there.  When Natalie was little, she would talk about the "Deep" to people and didn't understand why they didn't know what she was talking about.  She thought every basement was called the "Deep."

While the cat's away

the mouse will make messes.

That's what I've been doing the last few days.  Gary has been gone to Atlanta since Wednesday, so I've had a project going on every floor.

Family room -- sewing

Sunroom -- Flowers

Craft Room -- Paper stuff

Gary asked me if he curtails my projects that much when he's home.  The answer is "no," but when he's not here I don't feel a need to clean it up.  And, I've finished two Mu-Mu's that have been half made (don't worry, Justin, I won't give them to Tiffany), finished 9 bags with flowers on them, done lots of mending, and made Christmas flowers, just to name a few of my projects.  I've watched almost a month's worth of DVR'd "Studio 5" shows and some "Masterpiece Mysteries," that Gary doesn't care for. 

But, I'm ready to have him home.  Having a few days of being accountable to no one is kind of a novelty for a short time.   But, It makes me realize how isolated people who always live alone can feel.  It makes me realize that I should reach out more to those whose days are unbroken by the comings and goings of family or friends. 

So, right now I'm cleaning up my messes, and happy to do it.
I miss him.  

Although . . . I may leave the sewing machine up downstairs, since I still have 40 more "Studio 5" shows to catch up on and about 10 aprons in the making.



My fingers

can hardly type. 

I have a blister on my knobby middle finger. 

I'm going to have arm cramps tomorrow.

My shoulders are tight and stiff. 

I've just spent hours cutting up the last of my

100% polyester fabric into circles.

For, you know, those burned edge fabric flowers.

 

I'm going on record as saying that

I'm done cutting circles. 

I'm not buying another piece of

100% polyester

in my life.

If anyone sees me in a fabric store

hanging out anywhere near

100% polyester fabric,

forcibly pull me out of the store

and commit me to the psych ward.   

I still have a lot of burning to do with all of those 

100% polyester circles,

but I am not,

I repeat I am not

going to buy or cut any more. 

That is unless someone has a very special need

for very specific colors.

Then maybe I could be convinced to

buy and cut more

 100% polyester fabric.

But it would have to

be someone I love very much.

  

It's been a non-stop

time the last few days.

Wednesday we had our Weekday Relief Society. The one where we "Scattered Sunshine." Needless to say, that song has been in my head all week. There were about 100 women and young women there who participated in a potluck salad dinner (we had two long tables filled to the brim with delicious salads), games, assembling humanitarian aid hygiene kits, cutting and tying the edges of fleece blankets, and making burned edge flowers. It was wonderful to see women of all ages participating together in all these activities. I fully intended to take pictures, but I didn't even have a minute to pull my camera out of my bag. There was more than $1300 donated for the humanitarian kits and blankets.

Yesterday I woke at 6:30 to begin sewing an apron for one of Natalie's friends.  We received an invite to her baby shower.  She has been married for 2 years and, as much as I hate to admit it, I still had not given her a wedding gift.  I have wanted to give her an apron with the bowls and pan I bought her.  Well, there's no time like a baby shower two years later to give her a wedding gift!  So, I finished the apron and then spent the rest of the day making little flower hair clips to match the little girl outfits we gave her for the baby.

So, here I am today.  Sometimes my life seems like I go from one mess to another.  In fact, it doesn't just seem that way, it is that way.  I get frustrated with myself.  But then I hear messages like the one in this little clip which we also watched as part of the activity.



I do have this desire to create.  When I first heard this message, it really touched my soul.  I think sometimes my frustration comes from the fact that I often don't finish (including clean up) what I start.  But the desire to create is inherit in all of us, especially women.  We want to create homes that are filled with love.  We want to create beauty in whatever place we are.  I think a woman's soul truly is remarkable.

What I've been

(while I haven't been blogging.)

Proctoring Tests.

Doc Management.

Flower Pins for the cast of the play

(shown on my little "friend.")

Apron (for a gift) on my big "Friend."

Making Cupcakes

Missing my grandchildren.

That's about it.

You could call us

a ltitle obsessed!

With food, flowers, and family.

I must say

 that I have a very patient husband.

I don't know how he puts up with my messes.

I honestly didn't use to be so distracted with my projects.

It would really make sense to finish project

before I start another.

But "sense" isn't a commonly used word

in my vocabulary lately.

In the family room there are ribbon and paper pieces

all over the couch and floor.

Those are from the "Book Of Mormon Table Topic" game

we're making for our Relief Society Celebration.

In the Sunroom is more fabric (for more flower pins)

for my card class on Thursday night.

In the living room are bookmarks

(thanks for putting those together for me, Sharilyn),

I won't even mention what's in my craft room.

And all Gary said to me when he went to bed tonight

(as I was sitting in the middle of my ribbon messes),

 was to make sure I picked any

pieces of paper or ribbon off my clothes.

 He didn't want pieces sticking

to my pants like they were when we met

at Jason's Deli for dinner tonight.

Maybe I'll surprise him and get all my messes cleaned up by the

time he gets home from night skiing tomorrow night.

Now, that would really be a a really BIG surprise.

"You know,

this is kind of addictive,"
I said to Gary at 11:30 pm on Friday night.

Gary:  "Ugh, dear, it is not addictive.  It's O.C.D."

Well, what can I say.

My friend, Diane made these beautiful flower pins,

 I love them so much that I

decided I would try making them in bulk for

our Relief Society Birthday activity.
(Though not as pretty as these or
with as many layers, for time's sake).

Dianne (who is just a little bit like me in this OCD way),

had bought lots of fabric and cut lots of circles,

and burned lots of edges,
and made lots of pins,

and had overdosed on them.

So she gave me her left-over fabric

and many circles that were already done,
I don't think I would have had the courage to do
this project if I had to start from scratch.

Then I did lots of cutting,

and lots of burning

and more and more burning

until I had piles like this

(of which this is just a sampling of)

My committee of 8 came over and they helped me

with some of the assembly

like this:

which transforms into this

which gives me a basket like this,

which are pinned together and awaiting the

magnets (instead of pins) I ordered online.

Then I will add the "iron rod" centers

and glue them together.

So that is pretty much what I've been doing,

(besides the work that came in today).

That and trying not to burn the house down.

We may have the

final "draft" of the rag quilt for Misty's baby.

After many phone calls, emails with pictures, deletions, rearrangements,

and a trip to the store to find a
red fabric that kind of matches her curtains

(but at the same time blends in with the other nursery colors),

we've kind of made a final decision.

That is unless we change our minds in the next day or so.

I don't think I can leave it on the floor for longer than that,

since Gary just asked me if I would ever be done with my projects.

I don't know why he would say that.

I only have fabric on the table in the sunroom
for some shades I'm making for the top windows.

And then in the craft room I have paper and boxes
spread all over while I make some

"Book of Mormon" table topics game for our March Homemaking.

It would probably be wise
to finish one project before I start another.

But then, I've never claimed to be wise.

Just disorganized and distracted at times.
Someday I'll learn.  Really.

At what point do you

"cut your losses"

and call it good.

Last night I decided that since I needed to bake a cake for the funeral luncheon today, I may as well make the dozens of cupcakes that I need to make for a wedding next week.

So, why don't I just 6 times the recipe?

That way I can accomplish both tasks.

All was fine until I heard a horrible "clunk"

in my bosch machine.

There were only 12 cups of sugar,

10 cups of flour, 3 cups of cocoa,

and 6 cups of buttermilk in it.

Am I asking too much of this machine?

I opened the overflowing bowl to find the housing
of the beaters cracked in 3 places.

Could I still salvage the batter?

I searched through the messy batter
to find the broken parts.
I really, really didn't want to throw it away.
But after super-gluing the pieces

I had dug out the batter
(to see if I had them all),
I realized that there could still be
slivers of plastic left in it.

How would I feel if someone

eating a cupcake bit into a sliver of plastic?

Yes, it was time to
"cut my losses"
and call it good.

Will I ever ever ever learn?

(You'll notice that a picture of the

whole kitchen is conveniently missing)

If you don't have it . . .

you don't have to store it.
(or organize it)

An idea I need to heed more.

URGENT PAJAMA PATTERN CORRECTION!

If anyone,
in their haste to have a pair of cowboy pajamas,
has already started sewing them

STOP NOW!

After consulting with Eileen,

(who is much less experienced

at messing up when sewing than I am),

I probably left out one important step.

You can go through step 3 of yesterday's instructions. However, Step 4 has changed. Instead of proceeding to follow the directions on the pattern, you should turn the sewn pieces upside down.Then, instead of sewing the crotch where it should be, you sew the the leg pieces for the crotch. At this point, you can now proceed with the rest of the pattern instructions.

I promise I wasn't deliberately trying to lead anyone astray

(like leaving an ingredient out of a recipe or anything).

It's just that sometimes "genius" is just hard to recreate,

even when you've done it twice.

Cowboy Pajamas

If anyone is interested in making the cowboy pajamas

modeled by Gary a week ago (shown below)

here are the instructions:

1. Cut out 2 front pieces and 2 back pieces as instructed.


2. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT follow the pattern instructions (pictured below).

3. Instead, stitch the two back pieces together on the inside leg edges.


3. Then stitch the two front pieces together on the inside leg edges.


4. After that, you can follow the directions on the pattern.

These are fail safe instructions
for making the cowboy pajamas.
I should know, I've done it twice (so far).

You don't even want to know

the mess I'm in.

Let's just say
they don't look like this
from the website
http://bakerella.blogspot.com/search/label/cake%20balls


Mine look like this

Pretty sad, huh?
Kind of look like acorns.

After further evaluation,
I've decided I made the dough balls too big
and made the tops too tall.
I refuse to give up, though.
I've only ruined half of the dough,
so tomorrow I'm giving it another try.

PS: If anyone in the close vicinity wants to taste some acorns, let me know. I definitely won't be taking them to my luncheon on Saturday.

Not quite good bye

I think I jumped the gun on saying good bye
to the Easter decorations.
They are still up.
I have been otherwise involved in
very messy baking experiments the last two nights.
So messy, in fact, that my feet are sticking
to the kitchen floor when I walk.

But I am not going to mop the floor until after tomorrow.
Tomorrow my friend is coming to help me complete
this baking project that so far has not
turned out as well as I had hoped.
Maybe she will be able to add just the magic touch that it needs.

Maybe I'll take the decorations down on Friday when
Gary has gone to the sand dunes with the scouts.
Or maybe I won't do anything.
In fact that is probably what I'll do.

Of course I do need to start polishing up that bell
so I can ring it on Mother's Day and order
Natalie and Gary around.
That is my number 1 priority!

Remind Me

Will someone please remind me -- Next time I have an idea to make something that "won't take much time," that when you're making 100 of them that it does take lots of time. Please!!!!!