Managing my day.....

is always a chore. There just isn't enough hours in the day.

I have all these ideas and can't seem to get them out of my head and into material form with all of my commitments. My day starts early with getting grandkids off to school and watch any where from one to two small ones from two down.

But I did manage to win 7th place in the Granny Bowl Tournament. I won a whole twenty five dollars! Woohoo! Hey, don't knock it! I was surprised I even placed! Our best bowler came in 12th and our second best bowler, .............. well lets just say she had a bad day!

I need to make a list today of things to check into. My daughter wants to change our business name and make it shorter. Which is okay, but we can't find a name we like. Then we have to change it with the tax people. Of course, then we would have to have new business cards made up. We can't change our etsy name, so we would just have either just put it all in edit form and then make a new store and relist or just let it all expire. Of course then we have to hook up the new store to our paypal account. Then if we get propay............ well you get the idea, the list just keeps going. Is it worth it?

We are doing a one day show with four other shops in our street team. This is going to be held in Tower Groves Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The one date we have is June 21st. We are doing a mock set up the Saturday before just to see how it will work out. Of course we do most of our shows in the fall and winter since we knit and crochet. But my partner and daughter has been make flower pot pens which she has been selling at work. They will be our one and only item we are putting in the June show. Crossing our fingers and praying that we haven't invested all this money and time into something that won't sell. If the bank is any indication, then we should do well. Or at least break even.

Between Cara trying to sew (she's two), I have managed to get a few more outfits out there on Etsy. You can see them at www.everlastingcraftycre.etsy.com I just need a few more ideas for them. I also need to try to list everyday. But getting that done with babies hanging on my hip is hard to do. By the time they go home, all I want to do is take a bath and sleep.

Doing laundry now, I hear the washer buzzing at me. We have another bowling tournament this weekend. The team is leaving Saturday morning and we won't be back until Sunday afternoon. I am going and counting this as a vacation. With the price of gas as high as it is, I doubt whether we will take the RV out of the yard. I do plan on taking the pontoon out on weekends though. I might have to learn how to tent camp all over again. Hubby won't go. He has such breathing problems that he can't hardly sit on the front porch without huffing and puffing.

This must be my ramble day!

Where did this month go?

I seem to have lost a lot of days this month! lol! Let's see, we've had colds, the flu, company, more flu..............hmm. Okay, I think we are past that now. So lets move forward.

Well, bowling is now over except for the tournaments we are attending before next season. If fact, I am bowling my first one this afternoon. It is called the Granny bowl! Appropriate for our team, since almost all of us are Grannies! Our team name is Change-A-Comin' which should say Change-Is-Here! I swear! We all have hot flashes!

My cousin and my aunt came up from West Plains this week. It was great seeing them as my hubby has been feeling so bad this last six months, he hardly leaves the house. My 87 yr old aunt is in better condition than he is! They stayed only two days but it was great! My cousin had taken my quilt tops back home with her last time she came. She knew a lady that would do my quilting for me. I can make tops, I just don't have the patience to hand quilt. The lady who quilted this one for me, said we did a great job putting it together.

Seems like I have been making more doll clothes and trying to come up with more ideas. I still have not finished my doll closet. I just haven't felt like painting. Lets hope I can get to that in a few weeks. I have been giving away my hangers as free gifts when I sell Blythe clothes. I need to make more of those too. I am out! I have revised my skirts and made them fuller. The last one was maybe a little too full but it still looks good. It is hard to get all that gathered and in the waistband but I did it. My crop top pattern is easy to make and looks great with the skirts. I will post that picture separately from this post.

Okay will get some coffee and brb!


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Keeping busy.........

with family and business is more than a full time job. I think it would be easier to go back to a real job! lol! But I think that is out of the question anymore. I thought retiring I would get to create, create, but it's more like change diapers, change diapers. Not that I don't love them, but I thought I was all thru with that! We are now on a new phase and I think that this one will take a lot of work. My youngest daughter brought home a magazine listing all the different types of learning disabilities. Of course we have been concerned that our darling Cara isn't speaking as much as she should at this point. She actually has been backtracking instead of increasing her vocabulary. Since her older brother had speech problems, I wasn't so worried but it is now time to face the truth. She actually has many of the problems they describe. I think that after her next visit to the pediatrician they will give us ways to help her. But for now, we are trying things like holding a block up next to your mouth and saying the color, such as green, green. She thinks we are funny and laughs at us. Hopefully, she will start to copy. She understands everything you say and has just started nodding yes or no. She points to pictures and you can ask her where the bird is and she gets it right. She gets most of them right. She just doesn't talk.

So last night, I played hooky from bowling (tired) and went to the book store for some help. The magazine recommended signing. I couldn't believe what all is out there on the market! I wound up buying three different books on signing. I took one to my daughter so she can start with one, and I kept two for me. I even bought me a book. Soapmaking, but that's another post! lol!

Well, Cara liked the picture cards and watched us as we made the signs and said the words. We will start small and slow, but better a start than none. We will see, time will tell. Will keep this alive so I can see how she progresses.

Sometime....

This morning I have decided to take pictures of my new invention. I started this about three weeks ago but it is going very slowly. But that is my fault. I actually am still in the planning stages. I decided that Blythe needs a clothes closet and am in the process of designing one. I was going to make one completely from scratch but found a small box with handles on it. So far, I have managed to put two coats of paint on it. But it looks like I need to touch up a few small places on the bottom. Hopefully, no one will want my attention this am, and I can get this done. Then if the all goes well, I can start stenciling tomorrow. I have no idea if this will actually work, but I figure if I like it, I can use it to hang my own wardrobe. I have got the bugs worked out of my hangers. They actually look very nice compared to my first one.

Right now it is 4:14 am and I am trying to wait patiently for Charlie to come in. Charlie is our darling Cocker who is getting up in years and seems to constantly want to go outside. It's almost like getting up with a baby! At least I don't have to change diapers.......yet! lol!

Yesterday, my sister in law, daughter 3 and I went shopping most of the afternoon. We spent almost four hours gathering up supplies for the other half of the duplex. Next weekend, we are going to gut my sons kitchen. Hope he likes microwave food! But when all is said and done, he will be updated into the 20th century. I didn't realize just how bad it was until I walked next door and looked at what we finished in January. He doesn't work as fast as his sister. She takes after me and he takes after his father! lol! But he has a week to paint the ceiling, take down the shelves and pack up his pots and pans from under the sink, or whatever he has down there. He was still groaning when I left him yesterday. I know that unfortunately, when he starts the ceiling he has to go all the way thru with it, into the living room. He has to take the two ceiling fans down and he says he is going to take the deer heads down. I guess that now he is going to be a father for the first time at 40, he is going to try to make his home look more like a home than a hunting lodge. All I can say is about time!

We packed my truck up yesterday with cabinets, countertops, sink, plumbing, paint, stain, flooring tiles. Oh yes, another complete overhaul. What I am afraid of, is after we get all this done, his ratty refrigerator is going to have to be replaced too. We found a pretty good deal on a stove for him and we made him meet us at the dealer and pick it up. Right now all our goodies are stored in his sisters basement next door to him as his side is completely full of who knows what! I don't even want to look!

So here is our agenda for the next few weeks. Gut the kitchen, paint the ceilings, texturize the walls, paint them with kitchen paint, so they are washable. Put splash guards up behind the stove area and under the window. Put in new tiles, put in cabinets and bolt them together. Cut the sink area in the new top. Clamp it down, put in the new faucets and hopefully get the plumbing done without leaks. Oh no, I forgot about redoing the woodwork on the window!

Hopefully, we will get the cabinets stained tomorrow. I'm not working on it on Easter!

Hmmm............I guess that is today now!

Yesterday

I finished up two little outfits for my Blythe doll. Hopefully they will sell. Then I brainstormed about what to make next. I am scared to post my new thoughts as I am afraid someone will steal my idea so I will wait to post them. I am breaking out the clay today though as I made a test project to see if I liked it. So laying in bed this morning, I worked out the gliches and think I can now proceed.

But if anyone has any ideas what I can do to improve my dresses or add or take away anything to make it better, let me know. Any ideas or suggestions are quite welcome.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!

6:16 am and I am wide awake. The weather has brought us lots of sleet and freezing rain. The driveway is a white sheet of frozen wonder. Gorgeous and dangerous at the same time. I actually had to go outside this morning and take my daughter to catch a ride to work. I am so glad I retired and don't have to work (at least away from home).

This weather started yesterday but my sable will go in anything, so I get to be the designated driver for the compound. I even went out last night to my weight watchers meeting. So disappointing, they didn't show up! It was only my second meeting and I was excited to see how much I have lost. Since my retirement, I have gained over 20 pounds and I refuse to buy new clothes. It has to come off. Being from a medical background, I don't like diets. So of course, I choose a new way of living. That's what it is all about. I really like the flex point system. I even managed to save enough points so I could have a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. I love peanut butter! lol! I started straightening up the basement so I can get my exercise equipment moved around. I feel like over the years I could run a gym in my basement. No excuse for me not to move more. I use to love it, but it seems I have fallen into bad habits and turned my energies into other things. But I know that if I want to change, I have just got to get myself down there. I am not much for going to gyms, takes too long to get there. This way I can walk the treadmill in my jammies! Maybe I will get my laundry done while I am at it.

Well, I should keep my mouth shut. I jinxed myself. I told my sil that I don't think there will be anymore grandkids. I can't see D having anymore, he's got a 19 yr old son. B will never marry, S won't have any, she's 42. T is a lost cause. C is finished (thank God!) R1 hasn't grown up enough and she's 34 (she doesn't need any children) and R2's hubby got fixed! She has two, a boy and a girl. But last week R1 was having a few too many glasses of wine, blabbed to me that B's girlfriend is 4 1/2 months pregnant! They could have told us at Christmas but no one said a thing. Now I only have a few more months to make baby blankets. Geez! What is wrong with this family. We already know we are getting a girl. The girls are now almost even with the boys in this family!

I am a very hands on granny. I am fortunate enough that my children live close. In fact B lives about 100 feet away from us, in our rental duplex. You would think I would have known before this but he didn't say a word and I never just pop in (well almost) without warning. But now I wonder if I will get to kiss and cuddle this one as much as the others. We shall see. I have been gathering baby clothes for a week. Seems my house is full of clothes, the babies outgrew. Little Lil was a nine pound baby and she had clothes she could never wear, so they got a bathtub full of goodies yesterday. There were at least 6 onesies that had never been worn. I sent back at least 6 receiving blankets, and another 4 heavier blankets. I filled the tub with outfits that had been barely used. Lots of baby gap, old navy and carters. R2's Lil is a designer baby! lol! Now Cara, who is 23 months old likes it all. She had a ton of clothes, but I didn't know about the new one, so I sent them all home to C. C is getting her own box of stuff together.

Cara has some buntings she never worn, I know they can go. Cara had spent the first 6 weeks of her life in Childrens Hospital with a heart condition and a lot of her clothes never saw the light of day. When we finally got her home, the weather had changed and she never wore them.

Well, off of that subject. I cleaned out my craft room the other day and found that I had six projects I had not finished. That was unacceptable! My limit is three! So of course I have spent this week finishing things. I had cuffs for big boys, so I finished two pair of those. I had a skirt to a christening gown, that Lil didn't get to wear. That's another story. I turned that into an adult skirt. Fits R1 nicely. I can't decide whether I need to put a fabric skirt under it or just have her put some tights on and model for me so I can get some pics. Then I finished a stocking cap I had on my needles. I had part of a sweater I was making for me done. So I finished the sleeves and put it together, but it was too short. So much for trying to follow a pattern. What was I thinking? lol! So of course I added on to the bottom, made a border and added a little color to it. It just looked so drab all in blue. I put some mustard color to the border and then decided to add it to the bottom of the sleeves. Seems the sleeves are a little long, but it looks good. Now I can't decide whether I want to keep it or sell it! Last but not least, I still have to finish this apron. Maybe today will be that day. Maybe not!

I tried to take a nap yesterday, but the phone kept ringing. So I layed there designing in my head. I want to make a hat to go with a couple coats for my Blythe doll. Trim the coats with fur. Add some ladybug buttons on the one hat. If you can't guess, I didn't write this down yesterday, so this is going to be my reminder list. I think I am going to make a purse and add a ladybug on it too. Then I had bought some twine the other day. I want to make some soles for sandals. I have been tossing around the idea of using my cloth strips and crochet the top piece that goes across the foot. I am thinking it would be more comfortable than yarn. I want to make ties from both sides so that it can be adjusted to fit easier. And since I don't like floppy sandals all the time, I have to figure out how I want to do the back of the heel. Still wheels at the moment.

I do wish this weather would get nice. I need to get the camera out and go to work. I haven't added anything in over a week to my store and it is stale as can be in there. I laid out a few items on the footstool. They have been there for a week. It has been so drab here I just don't get good pictures in this weather. My house seems to be too dark and I have yet to make a light box. My list could go on forever! Omg!

My cousin finally got back from Florida. We are suppose to spend some time together before she goes back down to her home. She lives about 4 hrs away from me, but we are like sisters and are quite close. She is making a quilt using her deceased husbands clothes. Hmm. Now I am not sure I would want his shirt laying over me everynite, but to each there own. Got me to thinking though. She does quilt. I have two quilt tops done, but I have never watched anyone quilt and I want to learn. I just might go down there this summer, take my tops and have her teach me. Of course I will take my own machine with me. I don't know what she has, but mine will do everthing but wipe my butt! lol! Hopefully today, we can go out for lunch, and go by the fabric store. Maybe I should make a few baby quilts before I tackle that king size one. The big one has over 1000 squares in it. It is sooooooooo gorgeous. Wah, I should finish it!

Enough of my rattling, time to go to work. Or go back to bed!

That dang ole Flu bug!

It has not been a good two weeks around here. I can not believe how sick this family is. Seems that we just like to share everything. My kids and grandkids have runny noses, coughs, and fevers. They just keep passing it back and forth. Right now Miss Cara is in my bed, running a temp. Poor baby! We gave her some motrin, wiped her down with a wet rag. (she won't let me put her in a tub of tepid water) . So it is going to be a long day. I am lucky I get to do some work on this blog today.

It is also a wonder I have anything done. I designed a new outfit for my Blythe doll but my kids say she looks like a hooker. I am still trying to decide what else I want to do with her. Maybe I will post a pic of what she looks like right now. But today isn't a good day, as it is rainy and cloudy. I really need to make me a light box. Well, I have to cut this short now. I hear a whiny child. Gotta go/