It’s basically a visual way to collect your favorite things online – a virtual bulletin board. Any time you see a photo of something, you “pin” it to the board of your choice.  I currently have 1,441 pins on 18 boards.  You can find things in your own internet travels, or on the boards of someone else – that’s called “repinning”. You can even “follow” the boards of friends or people who seem to have similar taste.

The problem is I’ve been spending too much time “pinning” and not enough time going back to try the stuff I’ve pinned!  What good is collecting it if you never use it!  So tonight I’ll be making this off my Yummy board -

Chicken and dumplings

In crafty land, there are MANY, MANY things I would like to do off my Craft board. One hardly knows where to begin.  Maybe this -

DIY Atomic Starburst Mirror

Or this -

Pleated Bag

The beauty of Pinterest is when you pin something, the original URL to the item is preserved, so you can go back to the recipe or pattern or whatever the source is. And it’s so FUN to see everything collaged in one place.

I’ve got a Garden board to help with outdoor inspiration. Scenes like this move me to get going on the backyard -

Now that's a garden

Or this paver patio I love -

Paver Patio

If there is a photo, you can pin it. Some of my favorites are my Little Bits of Awesome board.

B -I-N-G-O

Zombie Survival

To start pinning, you need to request an “invite”, which can several days or even a couple weeks. Once you’re accepted, prepare to lose hours of your life. Even the Geek pins! Mostly guns and robots, but still.

Happy weekend! I’ve got things to make and cook, zombies to survive…

The littles in our house, being 13 and 11, have been questioning lately. Not the boy/girl kind of questioning, but the Santa-Kind-of-Questioning.

Especially the 11 year old. I’d say most of his friends have firmly crossed over, but he is hedging his bets. He has asked several times “Is Santa real?’.  ”Of course he is”, I say. “Who else brings the Santa presents and fills the stockings?!”  The Girl Child has been threatened with pain of death if she spoils the dream, but I think even she isn’t QUITE sure.

So on Christmas Eve morning, we trekked downtown to see Santa, the REAL Santa, at Macy’s.  We now have photographic evidence that he is real. That night, cookies and milk were left, with a note reminding Santa about Jack’s unmarked stocking.

Santa did not forget.

It was a splendid day. Gifts, ham, friends. Ham. Although there was a minor catastrophe when the oven element burned out, and we barely squeaked the biscuits out. I hope Santa brought you some magic that day too.

(P.S. About my previous post where I vowed to take it down a notch, well.  Hmm. I did make some gifts, but of course caved to the allure of having a party – THOUGH it was only an open house thing. I made a couple soups and people came to eat them. Tasty.)

But now!  It’s time to put all this away til next year.

We have no New Years Eve plans because A) I am socialized out and B) I can barely stay up past 10 pm.  So we will eat well, including a coconut cream pie if the element gets fixed today (fingers crossed). And tomorrow the house goes back to non-Christmas. A fresh start.

I looked back at last year’s New Year post and was embarrassed to see that the big goals I had for the year were nowhere near completion: the garage and backyard and purging. To be fair, it was a jam-packed social year. Which is why we’re slowing it way down this year to focus on the homefront. For the first time in many years, I have not organized any camping trips for the summer. Not one.

Which should leave us plenty of time and energy to tackle that godforsaken pit of despair known technically as our garage. We are starting to save so that when it’s cleaned out, we can finish it and have another room for living. These kids aren’t getting any smaller.  Whether we’ll have enough money for that this year remains to be seen, but at least it will be ready.

The backyard is high on the list too. We did plant a feed trough with tomatoes last year, and this year plan to step up the edibles production. Luckily, our friend Farmer Fels and his lovely wife start many fabulous seedlings and share some with us. More conifers and less weeds, maybe some plushing of the spit of grass. So it looks less like a nuclear bomb cleared it and more like this.

I actually do love our little house, despite its one bathroom and lack of dishwasher. I have big plans for the kitchen if the money tree ever starts blooming and even the ceiling. But in the meantime I’ll have to settle for little fixes and lots of hard work. I’m excited to get started and have big hopes for 2012.

May the new year bring you health and prosperity and good times spent with those you love.  I’ll be busy getting the backyard ready for ribs and pie.

]]> http://foibleandfolly.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/holidaze/feed/ 2 flushpuppy P1030777 P1030778 P1030771 P1030770 P1030769 Dream backyard - Sunset magazine http://foibleandfolly.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/our-youngest-turns-3/ http://foibleandfolly.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/our-youngest-turns-3/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:55:17 +0000 Chris http://foibleandfolly.com/?p=1692 Continue reading →]]> Today is Jack’s third birthday. Hard to believe it’s been that long. Technically we’ve only had him for 2 years and 10 months, but we’ll round up.  Prepare yourselves for cute overload.

This is Jack on his “gotcha” day, with his mom. We all looked pretty different three years ago.

And here he was at Grayland this summer. You might notice his nose is no longer black – he is what’s known as a “dudley”. Which seems pretty fitting, if you know him.

We love him to bits. Happy birthday, boobah.

In recent years, my holiday mojo has been declining. What used to be so fun now just seems like drudgery, something to get through. This year, I vow it will be different.

I took a look back at what brought the unfun in past years – it was the stress. From doing too much and buying too much. Things started off well enough most of the time, but then quickly spun out of control. I could not catch my breath en0ugh to find the joy in any of it.

Not this year, dammit.

New Rule #1.  Buy less.  Whatever we buy this year has to be paid for with cash, so we have to watch it carefully.  And really, we don’t NEED anything. Sure, I like a present as much as the next person, but I can get by with a new peeler and maybe a Tom Bihn bag.  And I will try to get the kids a few things they really want, but no need to go nuts as in years past. No more artsy kits that sit unused, or plastic bits of crap.

New Rule #2.  Make more. Which goes along with Rule #1.  I have several handmade gifts on my list.  I’ll be saving money and moving onto…

New Rule #3.  Do the joyful things.  Like making presents.  Decorating. Cookies! Christmas music. Lights. A day downtown.  Things that memories are made of.

New Rule #4. Keep track. I’m really hoping that my mom’s old-fashioned way of organizing will help me stay on top of the madness. I got a tiny spiral notebook, and made notes for food I want to make, each person on my list, crafts  to do, and money spent. I used to try to do that in Google docs, but for some reason it never really worked. In this case, I think physically keeping it all together might do the trick.  We shall see.

New Rule #5. Let it go.I don’t need to do a big party every year with lots of expensive food and work.  Soup and cookies are just fine. Ham sandwiches on Christmas Day.

When all else fails, have a cocktail and find some little thing to be grateful for. Find the quiet of the season.  Wishing you all peace this month.

swirling in my head

bumping

crashing

blocks of black

and gray, with the occasional burst

of yellow,

sometimes white.

Breaths that won’t go in,

can’t come out.

Lines growing deeper,

time growing shorter.

The path feels less familiar,

no signs to guide me.

Bigness all around me,

all inside me.

Shall I Make more

to Be more

to Get more?

Churn and turn the black and gray

into brightness.

Gripping whitely,

gripping tightly.

Finding light.

And soon I’ll be cutting this for wreaths…

To put it plainly, I live with a 13-year old Girl and a 10-soon-to-be-11-year-old Boy. There is  a whole lot of stuff going on in their little heads lately, is all I can think.

The Girl Child has been busted twice recently for lying, and likes to be rude when she knows better. This morning she had not made her lunch when it was time to leave. I dared to  suggest she get up earlier or spend less time changing her shirt (40 minutes?! really?!), and then it was on with the rudeness.  I ended up saying nothing and leaving on my own, though I did wait at the bus stop to make sure she made it.

The Boy Child has unexplainable freak-outs. Yesterday, he showed me his birthday list, which had only three things on it, so I suggested he add some other things to it. Since, you know, odds are more than 3 people would like to get him a gift.  He completely lost it. Tore up his list, declared he didn’t want a birthday, threw stuff out of his room, rolled around on the floor.  It was nuts. A mark of how nuts: he threw NIGHT NIGHT into the hall.  Night Night slept with me.

I KNOW there are hormonal and pre-teen demons at work here. I’m reasonably sure they are good kids.  But GOOD LORD, this stuff is exhausting. I also know we are not the only ones with these demon children – I am pretty sure there is a support group for it, and it’s called vodka.

I know they are stretching new muscles and finding their way, dealing with stresses we know nothing about. I refuse to give in and be bullied by my own kids. I  expect them to be part of a family where we respect each other and try to be nice, for crying out loud. To be responsible for fixing the hurt they cause with the words they say without thinking.

I know the day will come when they turn into people who can control their emotions, maybe not say things that make no sense when you suggest a new morning routine or more birthday presents. I fear it will not be soon enough.

In the meantime, make it a double.

a family photo, back in the day

And I can think of a few people who will get a big chuckle out of it. Luckily, the few that already know are very supportive, so I am going for it.

I am 5’7″, about 135 pounds. When I was pregnant with my first kid, I think I was about 120. I’ve always been pretty lucky in not having to diet, but I wouldn’t mind losing about 10 pounds to make the fat pants a little looser. They shouldn’t be “fit just right pants”.  I’m also 44, which means the pounds are starting to creep on, especially in the middle. My mom always said my metabolism would catch up with me at 30, so I guess I got a few extra years.

I am probably one of the least athletic people you will ever meet. Seriously.  I was always the  last person picked for any team. I once got injured playing AIR HOCKEY, for crying out loud.

But last Wednesday, I started the Couch to 5K Running Plan.  I’ve done 4 of the workouts now. It’s basically a gradual plan mixing short spurts of running/jogging with walking, working up to 3 miles of running by the end of two months, doing 3 workouts a week.  Yesterday was 5 minutes of walking to warm up, then 90 seconds of jogging followed by 2 minutes of walking repeated 6 times and 5 minutes of walking to cool down. I have the app on my phone so it keeps track of what to do when.

I tried this running thing a couple years ago, just kind of making it up as I went with my own jogging/walking thing. A) I really need the app to keep me on track and B) I tried to walk Jack the first time around. Fail.  Killed my knees zigzagging back and forth with him.  This time, no Jack.

I have to say, it feels good. Yes, it’s only been a week. The knees are a bit sore but I am working on strengthening them.  They’re a little wonky anyway since they turn in; I have vague recollections of braces as a little kid. I also bought these yesterday, thinking it would help me run with better form, i.e. landing mid-foot instead of on the heel. I’m not ready to do the barefoot thing, since I “run” on the streets around my house, but the lighter weight, more neutral heel does seem to help.

I definitely can see myself sticking with it, which I could never say before. It helps to have my own personal running gurus – ladies who have done this for much longer and more seriously than I probably ever will. I am grateful to C, L and D for letting me pick their brains and words of encouragement.

With a little luck, maybe swim suit season won’t be so horrifying next year. And if I can do it, god knows anyone can.

Between that and laying around drinking wine in my fat pants on Friday night, I am especially appreciating my tiny house. In the winter, it is warm and cozy (come springtime, I will call this claustrophobic). In the summer we spend so much time outside we tend to forget the good stuff inside.

I may not have a dishwasher, but I have about 20 times more cookbooks than this  and lots of utensils to turn out good stuff warm our bellies.

And nothing is more civilized than cocktail hour when the guests arrive. Dinner Club guests will be enjoying an apple-themed gin cocktail. I should probably test it first.

We bought this table BRAND NEW from Room & Board when we moved in. Because the dining area is narrow, we needed a narrow table.  It definitely has some dings (and glitter and paint) but it is well-loved. We’ve had some great meals with friends, made a few quilts and wedding gifts there.

Most of the art on the walls is old, found in thrift stores and garage sales, the exception being some special photographs by friends.

I have an (some would say) unhealthy affection for tschockes.  Sylvia Hood owl from the Rose Bowl flea market, glasses from Jay for our 20th.  Love.

Owl bookends from the weird little flea market in Pioneer Square.

We may not have a dishwasher but we do have a sweet fireplace that The Geek trimmed out all by himself. Makes the Friday Night Fat Pants extra cozy.

One of my favorite spots in the house – yes, it does mean I had to cram a cool mid-century desk in the living room. Craft central.

Is there a mountain of clean laundry in the bedroom and nowhere to put it? 3 piles of books and magazines waiting to be purged? Did I have to stuff the Ikea chair in the Boy Child’s room until after Christmas so I could move the couch? I admit it is so.  Do I wish we had a basement at least, for escaping the family and house guests? Hell yes, I do. A bigger kitchen? Another bathroom? Maybe someday.  But for now, this 980 SF is big enough to fit us and more stuff than is sane.  We manage to squeeze people in for food and drinks and make it work. Most importantly, we squeezed this guy in.

Right now, he wants me to go make him some meatloaf.  Well, I’ll let him smell it anyway.