THE 5 YEAR QUILT

5 years ago I wanted to make a star quilt

3 years ago I started picking out fabric and let it sit around for several months

2 years ago I finished piecing the quilt

over 1 year ago I started quilting

last month I finished--whoopee!

Hitting the wall

In honor of the Boston Marathon today I've been thinking about "hitting the wall". In a marathon hitting the wall "describes the condition when an athlete suddenly loses energy and becomes fatigued" (wikepedia). Since I do not enjoy endurance runs I've never actually experienced this phenomenon but I've felt it in parenting. It seems like every few months or at best once a year I "hit the wall" and just want to give up. This happened a couple of days ago. It was Carl being gone (not even having Friday night to look forward to with him and knowing he'd be gone all day Saturday) mixed with crabby kids and my bad attitude that created this hopelessness. Not that I would actually walk away from the family but I would either 1) angrily send everyone to bed early or 2) lock myself in my room, totally ignoring every one's needs. When people "hit the wall" in a race they often never finish. I've heard this is very common at Heartbreak Hill (a hill near the end of the race) in the Boston Marathon. In parenting maybe after I hit the wall I don't actually quit but I gingerly walk to the end not trying very hard. It took a girls night out with my sister (darn Em, you moved too early) to change my thinking. I think its good to get away sometime in order to have a better look at the big picture. It was nothing big--just a Wendy's side caesar salad and some fabric shopping. I didn't even buy a lot and still I felt pretty happy. Now I'm recommitted to making the most of the hard times (at least this week). I know I have it in me to create a good atmosphere in this house. I love being at home with the kids and I'm determined to expect trouble and be willing to make the most of it. Maybe laugh more at the chaos.

Incidentally, I've heard at Heartbreak Hill (near mile 22) there is a roaring crowd of students at the top of the hill (from Boston College I think) that are cheering on the runners. At least one runner I know was so curious about the noise that he made it up the hill without trouble. It made me think of those people who cheer me on when I'm struggling up life's hills. I want to be a better cheerer.

Charts by Alex

"Mom where's a ruler?" asked Alex. After working on a project downstairs Alex posted the following charts on the fridge and declared, "Whoever is good will get a check on the chart and when they get a lot of checks I will give them a prize." Hmm, I wonder where he got that idea. See he has a spot for Katie, Jordan, Grant, mom and dad. He gives his checks much more generously than I do.

"What do these letters mean?" I asked. Here's what I learned (left chart):

SDthG means "super duper thuper good"

SDG means "super duper good"

G means "good"

B means "bad"

I'm hoping not to have my name written in the "bad" section. We'll see how it goes.

Sentences

For part of Alex's homework he makes up and writes sentences using his spelling words. Here are the ones he wrote last week (spelling words in bold). They make me laugh:

the bug went to the log
the bug dug
I hug my dad
the bug went in the jug
mug is a name
I have a rug
tug ware (I think he meant tug of war)
are we hear
I like to jump on my bed
no bugs on my bed
I fed my dog
I like the name Jed
I led Grant to his room
Ned did the aBcs
I have a red Shrt
Ted is a name
wed bed sied me (he says it says, wed bed said me) Hmmm?
I like me (this is my favorite)
the dog begs for a bone
we have a leg (love this one)
we noe Meg
you put a peg in a hole
StegaSauris (Steg apparently is a name)
we do it
do you like to play
do you have a cane

the Lisette way

I have this friend LISETTE. She impressed me with her non procrastinating ways long ago (well at least a few years ago). So here's what she does--when asked to do something she starts on it right away. Sounds easy right? Well, it is for me but I'm usually a 'write it down and get to it later' girl. But I've tried it these last few days with our house in Massachusetts and its worked great. Since we're in the middle of giving away--I mean selling our house, there's been quite a few things I've had to do. Call people, get information from one person to another etc. etc. Normally I would write down something I have to do and then do it later. I've found though that taking care of the thing right away usually saves me a lot of BRAIN SPACE. For example instead of thinking about calling a company to take care of our Title V inspection (septic system nonsense) I called around RIGHT AWAY to find someone that would do a good job. In 10 minutes I found that the company we had used previously had been sued numerous times and charged up to 3 times more than another well known and highly recommended company. Appointments were set and information was given to all who needed it in just a matter on minutes. (Woohoo-the inspection is over and we passed.)

There's something about writing things down that gnaws at me until I've finished it. (Note: this gnawing doesn't usually occur if I don't write things down but the embarrassment isn't worth it in the end--forgotten appointments, missing kids programs at school etc.) When I met Lisette, I really wanted to be more like her but it just seemed impossible with baby Grant. Life was a little more overwhelming then. Now I feel free to live the LISETTE way (well at least this week).

Good: just remembering
Better: writing things down
Best: the Lisette way

I miss you Lisette

WICKED

LOVED IT!

First Tooth

While making Easter treats, in a previous post, Carl double knotted a piece of dental floss to Alex's tooth for the second time this week. Let me be clear--this tooth has been loose since Christmas. Its been THIS loose for the last week. Alex, who has a very low tolerance of pain cried any time anyone got close to his mouth. I thought it would be a good idea to keep the floss long and accidentally step on it while Alex was running around, but alas the floss was too short. Instead Grant "accidentally" pulled on the string and it popped right out. It didn't hurt a bit.