30 Days of Thanks: Report Card

Happy Sunday! I’m pleased as punch to be writing this report card because I feel like I’ve been so spot on lately.  The house is in a state of cleanliness I feel good about more often than not.  Through I didn’t go the last two weeks because of Chris’ schedule, I now have a regular yoga class built into my week.  And I have been especially proud of how much and how often I’ve been sewing; it’s amazingly therapeutic and I feel so proud of myself when I create something out of nothing (or out of something completely different), especially because I’m making all my own patterns.

Of course, you saw Nora’s homemade costume, but believe it or not, that involved no sewing!

All I did was create a template using the old string and pencil trick, fold the fabric into quarters, cut out a circle using the template as my guide, and measure and cut a hole for Nora’s face with one of her hoodies.  I didn’t bother to hem any of it since it was one time use, and I want to be able to reuse the fabric for something else in the future.  The eyes (Styrofoam balls) were attached with corsage pins going straight up from the inside of the costume and the antennas were pipe cleaners threaded through two tiny slits in the fabric then twisted closed.  The whole thing was pinned to a hat to keep it on her head.  Easy-peasy.

I’m also getting really into making bags lately.  Most recently, I sewed a yoga bag for my friend Laura, who recently became a certified yoga instructor.Remember the homemade things giveaway I did months and months ago?  The one that I promised would be fulfilled by the end of the year?  Well, I’m finally getting serious about it (now that the end of the year is eminent) and Laura was first on my list.  For her homemade things, she got the yoga bag, jars of strawberry and peach jam, and I’m also redoing her website.  I really enjoyed giving her everything and I’m looking forward to making gifts for everyone else.  I have some exciting things in mind.

I am so thankful that I made myself start sewing again.  At first, it seemed hard to make/find the time, but now it something I really enjoy.  I’m also grateful to have discovered up-cycling, which enables me to use free and thrift-ed clothes as fabric, and for the awesome yardage scores I made when the hospital thrift shop closed for the winter.  Without those cheaper options and the backlog of  fabric I have from my college days, I wouldn’t be able to afford to do any sewing at all.

Today, though, I am most thankful for the beautiful 55 degree, sun-blanketed weather that enabled us to spend three hours outside, walking in town and playing at our favorite secret playground.I’m thankful for my funny creative girl who already has the biggest imagination conceivable, and who amused me endlessly this afternoon playing with her “hermit crab”which she built all on her own out of a seashell and a mushroom cap.

I’m thankful that Nora was happy to dig in the wood chips and make “collections”

and entertain herself for nearly 30 minutes while I sat on a swing, basking in golden warmth and reading.

Afternoons like this make me so, so thankful to be staying at home with Nora rather than working a 9-5 (plus some).