At this moment
It’s 5:49 pm. The sun is out, the leaves are rustling in the breeze.
The girls are playing Jake and the Pirates in their new pj’s (Z has bunnies, Tiny’s have monsters). They keep running in to ask permission to do whatever their doing in their game. “Momma, can we go with Jake to find treasure?” I keep telling them they can do whatever they want if they take the Cat in the Hat with them. That doesn’t seem unreasonable to them.
My toenails are gold. Very shiny.
I just finished Soft Spoken Parenting: 50 Ways not to Lose Your Temper with Your Kids by H. Wallace Goddard. It was really pretty excellent and helpful. Goddard is LDS, or at least LDS-adjacent, which I didn’t know when I ordered the book but was a nice surprise, but he’s not super obvious about it. (Note: Now that I’ve looked into him more, he’s definitely LDS. I just think the term LDS-adjacent is funny, so I shall leave it.) There’s really good perspective and some very useful techniques, which have come in handy already.
I’ve also finished rereading both Sum: 40 Tales of the Afterlives by David Eagleman and I was Someone Dead by Jamie S. Rich. Both are excellent, and among my favorite books. They’re both very thought provoking, and though I’ve read I was Someone Dead multiple times, I was struck by new ideas and themes this time around. I love it when that happens in a book.
Tiny just took herself to the bathroom and completed any toilet related processes therein all by herself. That makes the second time today. We’re making some progress!
I’m thinking about the Quilting for beginners class that I’m planning for this coming Friday. I’m just inviting friends, but I think it will be really fun, and I’m excited about it. I love watching people work up the guts to try new things! It’s inspiring, and I’m excited to see what my amazing friends come up with.
Speaking of quilts, check out what I just finished!
Z picked out this quilt quite a while ago, and I had all of the squares finished, but put off sewing the whole thing together as the squares that make up the skull had to line up really well and I was scared. As I told Bruce when I started this quilt, as long as my cuts were really precise and my seam allowance stayed really accurate, it would turn out fantastic. Unfortunately, I’m really really bad at both of those things. I don’t think a single square turned out 12×12 like it was supposed to, but I improvised and it worked out just fine anyway. I used a batting that allowed 12 inches between stitches for quilting, so I quilted around the skull with an echoing line in white inside the skull, and then did a double line just inside the border formed by the outside rows of squares around the whole thing. Does that remotely make sense? I don’t know. Anyway, I love it, and Z loves it, and that’s what matters. 🙂
Now I’m in the mood to make a log cabin quilt, and just have to figure out what to do. And I’ve gotten a bee in my bonnet about making a TARDIS (from Dr. Who) quilt, and now that I’ve found a picture of one that someone actually made, now I REALLY want to do it.
It’s time for me to go get the girls ready for bed. It’s only 6:30, but we’ve been reading TumTum and Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall by Emily Bearn, and they are ADDICTED. We read 3 chapters already today (we usually only read at bedtime, but the evil Aunt Ivy was about to poison the intrepid mice heroes, and I knew things were going to get dramatic, so I decided to forge through that part during the day, rather than right before bed) and I know they will keep asking for more and more tonight. The earlier we start, the longer it will feel like we’ve read, while still getting them to sleep at a reasonable point. So that is what we will do. Because they have to get sleep because we’re going to the zoo tomorrow with their grandma and papa, so they must be rested.
What’s going on with you at this moment?