A New Normal?

I don't have a giveaway put together yet.

I'm disappointed that I haven't made it there yet. My readers are so important to me. I read all your comments. More than read. I devour your comments. I wait for your comments. I even sometimes track down your blogs and read and read. I love that people find value in my ramblings and my projects.

I've had quite the week.

I lost two days last week to the new medication. More on that later in this post. Then they called and asked us to speak on church on Sunday. In the LDS faith, we have a lay clergy, so we take turns speaking. We spoke before we left our last ward, and they really like to get you going and coming, so they asked us again when we moved into our new ward. I actually enjoy speaking, but I generally like to have more than three days notice. David and I decided to sing too, which is added pressure. So, I had a talk to write, and then give. Went pretty well. David spoke first, which made me cry. Then we sang, and then I cried though a lot of mine, but managed to make it through ok.

Saturday was Lagoon day for David's company work. A magazine asked for some last minute work (due tomorrow, still working on them). Then my sister and I got invited to an amazing cooking class in Layton (an 1.5 hour drive) on Tuesday night, which was another incredible and delicious experience (more on that in another post I'm sure), and then we headed back to go to the midnight showing of Eclipse (I know, I know, bad feminist. Warning, slight spoiler ahead: Actually, my only major issue from a feminist point of view is when Edward disconnects Bella's truck to prevent her from seeing Jacob and then tells her it's because he's worried about her safety. Can you say abusive and controlling much?)

Image from Here

Sigh. My give away never made it to the top of my to do list. I'm going to get there. I am.

In other news, I'm feeling so so so good on this medication. I did get a migraine yesterday. Not surprising with all the stress lately, but it was my first in a week, which is a lot less often then I have been getting them.

I feel great. I feel like my old self. I feel like I did when I was a teenager, which I think must be normal for me. It's really hard to tell, because I've been not normal for so long. I'm suddenly very silly.

Like yesterday, I was getting ready for Eclipse. I had half my hair clipped up on my head while I'm straightening it, and I was wandering about the house, doing something else, and Maxton tells me my hair looks silly. My eyebrows go up.

"Oh really? You don't like it? This is my new hairstyle? I love it. It's very funky and cool. It looks like a dead animal."

At this point, I start petting my hair.

"I named him Seymour. He's my pet. I like him. Would you like to pet him?" I bend over. "Yep, and later, I'm going to put tuna in him, so he smells really gross, and them I'm going to rub Seymour on your bellies, so you stink too. Don't you think that's the best idea ever?"

Yeah, my Xander and Maxton are giggling hysterically at this point, because they are boys, and they are seven and six years old. And it doesn't stop. I randomly come up with this stuff all the time. I'm not sure if that's normal me, of if I'm so damn happy I'm not feeling depressed all the time now.

And the other day, I'm walking downstairs to watch a movie with David, and I see this beautiful tree lit up by the setting sun, and it's beautiful. Time just stops for a second, and I get so full inside. I feel lifted up, divine for a moment. I used to feel that way about nature all the time. It's been years since I felt that way. In Emily of New Moon, the title character has a similar experience and she calls it the flash (sort of funny considering later comic book characters, but go with me here). I knew exactly what LM Montgomery meant when she wrote about Emily's flash. It's like communing with God through nature, but more that you're a part of the earth, connected to it, one with the beauty of it and its energy. I can't describe it better than that.

This picture isn't that great, owing to the fact that I took it out the window this morning, whist wearing my underwear, and so it's really cropped and the wrong light, but I thought you might want to see it anyway. Least you can't see me in my skivvies. David, I can hear what you're thinking.

People, I haven't had the flash in years! Years! (Considering the proceeding paragraphs, there are all kinds of directions my dirty mind is going with that sentence. Oh, the possibilities of humor. I'll let you decide how to interpret it and I'll leave it alone.)

I told David about it and pointed out the tree. It's a bit more yellow than normal. David sprayed trees for a summer at one point in our marriage, so he knows a bit about tree health. My tree is iron deficient. Perhaps that's why I relate to it, having been iron deficient myself at several points in my life.

Anyway, I was thinking about this normal thing and how weird it all is as I came home from the gym on Monday, and I had an idea for a poem. I have composition books full of (bad) poetry from when I was a teenager, and yet only a handful of (bad) poems from my adult life. Another example of how not normal I've been.

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get something that works for me. I hope I can continue to find things that work. I feel like a miracle.

Anyway, here's the poem I wrote. And yes, our second car is acting up, and we've quit driving it for now until we can figure out what is really going on with it. Hopefully the adage that things break in threes is right, because after the AC, the dishwasher and the car, I can't take anymore. At least my brain is better for now.

Normal is slippery.

Last week, a wire failed
in my husband’s car.
When he was going 60 on the highway,
it showed 90,
and when he came to a complete stop in our driveway,
it showed 45

I feel like a broken speedometer. Is it normal
to cry a little every night? Am I broken because
I can’t stand the texture of rice? or because the white pieces around the rim
of an orange slice prevent the explosion of plump juice in my mouth,
an experience I had so long ago I can barely remember it? Or am I out of order because I wait till the last second to pee, then walk calmly to the bathroom,
hiding the way my bladder presses as full as the orange I won’t ever eat?
Is it normal to inwardly roll your eyes at every demand of your six year old? to never feel hope?
Or to lie a little in each poem?
My baseline is all out of wack.
I need an adjustment, a tinkering, an instruction manual,
(with clear definitions of normal bathroom and sexual practices).
I’ve not been my own normal in so long,
I can’t gauge my own normal,
(the needle jerks and bounces, and stops and starts, like riding a bike with flat tires
clump clump. clump clump.)
let alone my normal compared to everyone else’s normal.

Normal is slippery.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Two Wheels Digital Scrapbook Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap. (Applies to any compressed files).

Both Xander and Maxton both learned to ride their bikes this spring.

Sheesh. I feel like a bit of a bad mom, not helping them before this. I guess one thing about delaying these types of things is that when they are ready, they learn FAST. I guess 6 and 7 isn't that late, but I remember learning before kindergarten.

My mom helped Max a little last fall, but he didn't get the hang of it all the way. He could go a few feet. Then, when we moved, we suddenly had a lot of (safe) concrete to practice on. A few tips while Natalie was visiting and suddenly Maxton is riding around. I go out a few days later and Xander is riding all around.

Anyway, that is clearly the inspiration for this kit. When I get a second, I'm going to pop in some of the pictures I have of Max and write up some new journaling.

Click to Download

Kit Contents: 8 Pattern Papers, 4 Journaling Blocks, 4 Labels, 4 Title Labels

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Tutorial: Funky Kids' Water Bottles

One of the things on my camping box list was water bottles for each of us. When I went to the dollar store, they had some really cute ones, but they only came in three colors. Of course, this is a problem. There is no way my kids are going to be ok with that kind of ambiguity.

I knew when I bought them that I was going to put their names or something on them as identification. I guess writing on them with a sharpie would have worked, but I had to have more fun than that.

So, my kids' water bottles went from this:

to this:

Wanna make your own? Read on, read on.

Supplies:
Water Bottle
Vinyl
Cricut if you are cutting your own  vinyl (you can also custom buy vinyl all over the place. try etsy for some really cute stuff)
Plastic Spray Paint
Painters' Tape
Transfer Tape/Masking Tape

Step One:
Clean your bottles.

Step Two:
Cut vinyl initials and symbols. I used my Cricut and the Hello Kitty and Indie Art cartridges. My kids all choose the symbol they wanted.

If your interested, I used the following settings to cut through the top layer of vinyl and not the backing (might vary from machine to machine, but this a good starting place). Blade Depth: 6, Speed: 4, Pressure: 2.

Step Three:
Cull the extra vinyl from your image. You are doing a positive image, so remove all the positive parts, and leave the extra.

My kids LOVED pretending their culled pieces were tattoos. I'm not so sure about the direction they are taking their lives. . .

Step Four:
Put your vinyl piece on a piece of transfer tape with the vinyl side down on the sticky part. Peel off the back of the vinyl so that the sticky parts are all exposed (if you bought your vinyl, it may come with the transfer tape already).

Step Five:
I did my vinyl application in two steps, with the monogram first and then the symbol underneath it. Line everything up, and burnish it. I used the handle of a pair of scissors to do mine. Peel off the transfer tape.

If I'm not making much sense to you, try this video from the Nth (with me and the very talented Jen Gallacher), and that might help a little with the whole vinyl transfer thing.

Step Six:
Tape up everything you don't want painted.

Step Seven:
Using spray paint made for plastics, give an even coat of paint and let dry.

Step Eight:
Remove tape and vinyl. Tada! My kids love theirs! I'm not certain I'm going to be able to make them stay in the camping box.

Linking Up Here:



Mad Skillz

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Blast from the Past Saturday

I'm not sure why I choose this post today. Maybe it's the cute little pictures of Griffin. Maybe it's because some days are just overwhelming, and it's nice to remember there are still kind people in the world. Maybe it's because I'm surprised that Griffin hasn't actually broken any bones yet (shoot, knocking frantically on my desk, turning around three times saying, "Jinx be gone" and running to the kitchen for some salt. . .)

From June 14, 2007

Poor Dude. But he's all better now.

There are times when I think I'm crazy. For instance, last Friday David went on an overnight camp-out with the Young Men and I decided this was the perfect time to take all four children by myself to Carl's Jr for dinner and to play on their play place. Things went well until just before I was about to leave. Griffin came running to me, screaming and holding his arm. I didn't see what happened, he was running over to the play scape to watch his brothers, but he can't get up on anything by himself, so I assume he fell somehow. Well, I didn't think much of it, just held him while he cried. I was thinking he was just over tired. I gathered up the kids and tried to hand Griffin a drink, but he couldn't grab it and he wasn't moving his arm. He was still obviously upset and in a bit of pain. That is the worst feeling in the world. I didn't think his arm was broken, but something was not right, so I drove straight to the emergency room. With all four kids. By myself.

This is when I realized that I'd left my cell phone at home. I knew my mom was working a booth at the Orem Summerfest, my dad had had surgery on a hernia that day, Melissa was home, but her husband works nights and she couldn't leave her kids, so that left me to deal with everything. Once I realized that, we did OK. We were in the emergency room for almost two hours. Luckily, Aubriana didn't need to eat and a very sweet, college-aged girl offered to watch Maxton and Xander while I was in there. Truly an angel. They had so much fun with her, drawing Father's Day cards.

I felt just horrible. Griffin was so tired and in a lot of pain. They gave him some medication for it, and he fell asleep in my arms. I was having a hard time not crying myself. It was so hard to see him like that. He was so cute, he kept asking for Daddy, for Max and Xander and for Aubrey. He also liked it if I jiggled his foot. We played This Little Piggy to distract him, a much quieter version that we usually do.

They took X-rays of Griffin's arm and when the doctor came back, he said that the radiologist "thought" he could see a "buckle" in the bone of Griffin's wrist. So, it wasn't broken or fractured, but they didn't know exactly what had happened. They put a splint on his arm and we went home. They said if he started to use his arm in the next few days that he could take the splint off. He didn't use it for a while, but then he started to a little bit on Saturday afternoon. He still couldn't pick anything up with it, but he was at least moving the arm. He was amazingly good about keeping the splint on, until the last day. Actually, I thought we could have taken it off a bit earlier, but I wanted pictures.

Isn't he cute? I took the splint off this morning and so far, he seems fine. Whew. Kids are never boring. :)

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Project Progress: Kitchen Update Week 6

When I hung my shelves, I left plenty of room underneath for a gallery style collection of artwork. I've already posted a lot of it, like my silhouette frames, my crochet butterfly, and my kitchen message center.

I started collecting larger frames for this a while ago. I bought most of them at Savers or at Dollar Tree. I didn't pay more than $5 for any of them, and I got most of them for a dollar.

When I started to do this, I first put all the frames on the floor, trying to get a good arrangement. After a little tweaking, I had this arrangement:

Yeah, some of what are in those frames are scary, from the evil looking bears on the far left, to the sappy motivational poster on the far right, and those 80s geese prints (one you can't see because of the glare, but completely not my style).

I immediately started plugging in digitally some of the artwork I wanted to use:

Already, I'm feeling better about this.

I spent the better part of two days spray painting these. Of course, I didn't have to sit outside and watch the paint dry, thank goodness. That's so boring, they coined a cliche about it.

After that, I traced them on leftover paper we used to wrap the breakables in, and put them up on my wall with painter's tape. I also put up some of the ones I knew were at key points and not moving anywhere. I used command strips for these, the picture hanging ones. They are expensive, but I love them for projects like this, because they tend to hang much straighter than regular nails and you can tweak them a little bit, or even move them completely if you have some adhesive refills. And my kids don't knock them off the wall when they go by. Usually.

Once I got up the paper, I realized that I needed to make the whole thing a rectangle, and not have the variation in the bottom line, because it was looking messy and busy. It reads much more as a single unit now.

Then I started plugging in my digital images again (how amazing are digital cameras and Photoshop? We live in an age of wonders--there should be a song about that, because, seriously, I feel like breaking into song right now.).

And after a lot more tweaking, and a lot more making of art, my wall is currently looking like this:

Still a few things to do, but it's shaping up nicely.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Health Issues/300 Followers/Awesome News

I went on some new medication last night, and I can barely keep my eyes open this morning. Actually it's afternoon. See what I mean? I feel out of it.

When I was a teenager, I started to get migraines. Not too bad, usually once a month, and they wouldn't last too long. Over the years, they've slowly been accelerating, and I now get three or four a week.

I know, yuck, right?

Mostly, I can get rid of them, but it's just not fun to even start that many, so my doctor and I decided to try preventative medication. I've been on some before, and it helped a lot, but then I fell into the trap of hoping I'd interupted some sort of migraine cycle, and once they were gone, I wouldn't get them as often any more. Nope.

Also, I've mentioned this briefly on the blog before, but I also get depression from time to time. This started in my early twenties, when I was pregnant with Xander. For a few years, I've been wondering if I was bipolar II. Bipolar II is a sort of milder form of bipolar disorder, where generally the highs (or manias) aren't as high. It can really vary a lot. I tend to have sort of low lows and then just slight manic times.

I tried googling images for this post, and there are a lot of happy/sad photos, but I don't think that captures it. It's more like despair and euphoria with a touch of madness.

I like this one:

If you've ever caught me in a manic state, I'm quite hysterical. I talk more quickly than normal. I feel wonderful. I want to do twenty projects and I want to do them all at once. I tend to buy a lot of craft supplies and start projects and not finish them. I also get goofy. The depression is another story. Ug, I hate that part.


I actually deal quite well with it most of the time (could be so much worse), and the exercise helps a lot. But, it still impairs my function. And it can be exhausting. I'm never sure when I get up in the morning if I'm going to cope ok, or if I'm going to spend the day not coping. I'll spare you the details.

So, at an appointment yesterday, my doctor diagnosed me bipolar II. I'd known for a while that migraines and bipolar disorder were linked, but I was surprised that there was one medication that could potentially treat both. So, I'm trying it out. So far, I feel good, but very, very sleepy. Hopefully that will go away.

If you're the praying sort, I could use some prayers that we get a handle on this. Any sort of mental illness is a journey, and I'm feeling very hopeful about finding a good balance that works for me.

In other news, Craftastical! reached 300 followers a little bit back! I'm thrilled! Seriously, I can't believe my little blog has attracted so many new readers. I'm planning a little give-away to celebrate. I need to get my act together. Maybe if I put it out there now, I will feel more committed to put something up next week. So, check back. And it looks like I might hit 350 soon.

Also, do you remember this shadow box frame I made from dollar store frames?

Well, last week, The CSI Project had a little contest, judged by Heather from Dollar Store Crafts. I hadn't ever entered one of their contests, but I knew I had to put a link to my shadow box up there. I was thrilled to see I made the top ten.

Heather stopped by and left this comment on my project:

Hi! I just wanted to stop by and say congrats! I didn't have time to comment when I was judging the CSI entries last week. You did a great job! I love your project because you had an item you wanted (a shadowbox) and you figured out a good way to use dollar store stuff to make the thing you wanted. To me, that's the essence of shopping at the dollar store for craft supplies!

How amazing is that!?!

Thanks so much to Heather and The CSI Project! I'm going to be stopping by a lot more often now.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Share-A-Craft: Target-Inspired Print

I did a lot of pretend shopping as I've thought about my kitchen re-do. One of the things I stumbled on was this artwork from Target. It really appealed to me, but it wasn't quite the right colors, not to mention 80 bucks and too big for my wall, so I whipped up my own digital art with a similar idea.

I really like how mine turned out:

And here it is, hanging on my wall. Fun, no?

For handy reference, here's the Target one:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Pretty Purse Digital Scrapbooking Kit Freebie

New to digital scrapbooking? Never downloaded a digital kit before? What in the world are .rar files anyway? Get your answers here: How to Unzip Files So You Can Digi Scrap. (Also applies to any compressed files).

Backstory on this kit is pretty simple. Go here to see the cake I made for Aubrey's 3rd birthday.

Yep, pretty simple.

Aubrey has taken to bringing her purse along when we go places. She has her coin purse in it and a toy cell phone. She pretends to talk to people and tells us often, "Be quiet. I'm on the phone." I can't imagine where she might have heard that one.

This kit is going to come in handy, I'm thinking.

I still want to do a layout of the pictures of the cake, but I couldn't resist Aubrey's cute smile, so I had to do these first.

Click to Download

Kit Contents: 7 Pattern Papers, 1 Title Block, 1 Journaling Block, 1 Label, 1 Set of Swirls, 3 Purse Stickers, 1 Paper Mask

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Tutorial: Camping Supplies Box

Ug, what a boring name for something I'm so excited about!

Last year, we went camping right before school started. I thought I blogged about it, but nope. Well, we went to place called Currant Creek. This was an amazing campground. Just beautiful. Back when my dad worked for the Forest Service as a landscape architect, he designed this campground and the trails around it. It was one of the best campgrounds we've ever camped at. It was fun to walk the trail with my dad and most of the grandkids, particularly, because he had written all the signs along with way.

Aubriana and Daddy hanging out in the hammock at Currant Creek. Our site was surrounded by Aspens and firs. Just beautiful!

Anyway, it was such a nice trip, only marred by our lack of preparedness. We forgot trash bags. We forgot various cooking items. We forgot our own toilet paper. We forgot firewood. I think we forgot so many things that I've forgotten all we forgot. It was a bit of a mess. Currant Creek is not close to anything, so we couldn't just drive a bit and pick up what we forgot. For a long time, I've been meaning to make a box that had a lot of the things you need to camp already packed in it so we could just grab it and go. While we're not likely to forget the tent, we sometimes forget trash bags, matches, stake mallets and the like.

I sat down and made a huge list with everything I could think of. Be aware that this list is just stuff I want to keep in my box all the time, so it doesn't include large things like tents, tarps or camp chairs that are too big to fit in my box or little things like toiletry items we would normally bring along anyway.

Supplies:
Print Out of the List
Plastic Protector Sleeve
Tape
Items from the List
Large Plastic Tub

Step One:
Print out list. Cross off anything you don't think you'll use and add things I might have forgotten or things that specific to the way you camp. Mark which supplies you already have extras of that can go in the box. Start buying/gathering supplies. I shopped the thrift store and the dollar store for most of my items, and spent about $70, but I still have a few things to get (it would be easy to spend more, so don't hate me if it's more than that, particularly if you want to buy all new). An easier way might be to pick up a few things at a time.

Click to Download PDF List

Step Two:
Wash any used items. Dry. Group like things together. Find/purchase a large plastic tub to put all your stuff in.

Step Three:
As you put things into your box, cross them off your list.

Step Four:
Glue the page protector to the bottom of your lid. Let dry over night. Tuck your list inside for easy reference.

Step Five:
Load up and go! You might want to be a bit more organized than I was (I think I gave up and started just tossing things in there, must work on my ability to be organized).

Gah, that picture is so boring. Really, it's going to be some awesome to have everything I need to keep our camp running. Maybe what it needs is a rainbow, puppies and a unicorn?

Linking Up Here:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Blast from the Past Saturday

I picked this post because I'm just still so gleeful that we have too bathrooms. The upstairs bathroom is open to the boys only in case of emergencies, and that means the downstairs must be occupied. I love no pee on the seat. It's life's little luxuries, isn't it? I say that sarcastically, since I'm pretty sure a pee-free seat should be a basic human right.

From June 22, 2009

I made my kids clean the bathroom today.
Actually, I asked David to make them clean the bathroom. We only have one bathroom. With four males using it, it gets grody. I hate cleaning bathroom, especially when I'm not responsible for missing the toilet entirely and then not cleaning up after myself. I never miss and I'm always neat and sanitary. Boys are gross.

Proper toilet seat usage is something that Griffin has decided not to care about. I will go in and the seat will be down, with pee sprinkled generously on it. After gagging and wiping with a Clorox wipe, I have to cross my legs and do a little dance until it dries so I can use it. I will come in to find him going #2, clinging desperately to the rim of the toilet, with the seat up behind him. Lectures are ineffectual. Someday I'm going to have to fish him out of the toilet. I will be in my bedroom, wondering why he's taken so long in the bathroom and then I will go in and he will be in there, arms and legs flailing helplessly. Then maybe he will listen to me and realize that I am actually smarter than him and I do have some method to "irrational" things I ask him to do, like not eating his boogers and putting the toilet seat in the proper position for the task at hand. In the meantime, I wipe the seat every time I need to go.

So, David made them clean the bathroom. This is pretty much how it went. (Warning: whining, bickering kids ahead. I think Xander hits pitches in his whining that only dogs can hear. But there is cuteness at the end). David took this video with his point and shoot camera. Super easy and faster than our regular video camera, so more videos to come.



Isn't she so cute!? "It's yucky, Daddy."

Today she was sitting at the piano, singing. I was laughing so much at her lyrics, "I love Mommy. I like her shoes." Hehe. So dang cute! Only two and already composing music.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Project Progress: Kitchen Update Week 5

Such an insane week this was in my kitchen!

I was going so slowly on refinishing the doors and drawers. Part of the reason was that David put away the hand sander and every time I thought about working on it, grabbing the key to the shed and walking ten steps sounded like too much work. Clearly, I need to get back to the gym. Once I actually had the sander in my hands and plugged in, I would sand for hours.

Sanding is gross. I don't think I've ever before felt quite that filthy. Maybe after a week at Girl's Camp.

I finally got up the motivation to get out the sander, and after that, I was focus and got so much done.

Three drawers without their finish:

And stained:

Hurray!

The last big push came the day before my sister was due over with her kids. Mine are mostly out of the get-into-everything stage, but hers are most certainly not. So, I couldn't leave my kitchen looking like this:

Can you say chaos? Seriously, that is craziness! Miles and Graham would have made short work of the bottom cupboards, I'm sure.

So, I did nine doors the day before she was due over, including sanding, staining and coat a coat of poly. They really need one more coat, but I wanted to get them back up before she came. I will probably just take the handles off and do a coat of poly with them still on the hinges since I didn't refinish the backs.

I had blisters on my fingers from putting them all back up, because I was too lazy to get out the drill. I know. I have a talent for bad logic. And making things a lot harder on myself.

Recap time!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Not too shabby! I'm loving my kitchen now. A lot of that didn't strictly need to be refinished, but we all know that story, and they look so good now!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.