Stand Tall

We Are Great!We Are Strong!We Are Giant Dorks!

We also know how to have more fun than Bubba Lou at the new local playground.
Seriously...they have these super-duper spinning things...just asking for a group of tipsy "adults" to play on and be video taped for youtube.

Bee Balm

Close-up of bloom in the afternoon sun.
The bloom on top is actually coming out of the center of the lower one.
It's like fireworks.

An unopened bud.

This one just opened yesterday.
No fireworks yet.

Last summer my Mom gave me 2 Bee Balm plants that came from my Nana's Bee Balm plants. I have a huge patch this year over 6 feet tall with so many blooms in the most wonderful shades of hot pink, plum and frosty green. Wherever my Nana is, she's smiling. I don't see or smell these without thinking first of her, then my Mom, then BubbaLou.

I love how the pictures came out. I have a new camera (Canon SD1400) that I've been playing with. I'm no expert (not even a good amateur) but I'm quite happy with how the close-ups came out. I've also managed to get some cute shots of BL and Zeep. One of the neatest feature is being able to shoot the whole picture in b&w except for one color. Very neat with BL's pink lips standing out in a picture I took against a pretty white, bright background.

August, Already?

Well, June and July came and went. Utah/Outdoor Retailer was a blast. The weather out there was hotter than hell and drier than dust. FABULOUS! My favorite kind of weather. I returned only to unpack, do laundry, repack and leave 2 days later for the ocean, a nice change after dry, land-locked UT. It's amazing what the ocean can do for you. Not to mention hot sand and salt-water taffy. I feel re-energized, even if I'm still recovering from all the travel.

August 22 I will have a booth at the local Apple Pie Crafts Fair in Newport, NH. I'm just hoping to sell enough to cover my costs. Any profits will be much appreciated and wonderful. I will have a selection of hand-knit, felted bowls, mini-Santa mitten/hat ornaments, hand-knit lace votive holders, and hand-beaded jewlery. I didn't have enough time to get a homesteader's license to sell baked goods, but I will be donating a pie (apple, duh) for their benefit bake-sale. I am sharing the space with a friend/co-worker who makes wooden home accessories like hand-painted signs, frames and boxes. If you're in town, please stop by to say hello.

Bubba Lou starts at the local Montessori School in September. She misses the cutoff for kindergarten, but is ready for it. Montessori puts Pre-K and K in the same classroom and kids learn at their own pace. I think BL will thrive in that sort of enriching environment where learning is encouraged, guided and applauded. I hope so, considering what it's costing us...I shouldn't complain, the increased cost is worth it when I consider how bored BL has been in daycare the last 6 months. She's only there 2 days a week this summer, and hates to go (especially since many of her friends aren't there in the summer.) It makes me sad sometimes to have to take her somewhere she clearly doesn't want to be, but then...I don't want to be at work, either. I truly miss the days when I worked because I wanted to, not because I had to and spent my days being creative with BL.

Sy starts teaching at Lebanon High School this fall, his dream job. He will also be starting his Master's program in October. It's gonna be another stressful, too busy, tighten-our-belts kinda year, but we've learned we can get through just about anything (without throwing things at each other.) The year Sy was in school and not working was the hardest, so I think this year will be manageable. As my hair stylist says, "We see."

And isn't that what life is? One big "We see" and what you make of it is your own.

Missing

Between working full-time, a million birthday parties, and Thanksgiving, I've been busy. BubbaLou recently turned 3, so a party was required. 8 (maybe 50?) small children running around my house. Their parents, some Aunts, Uncles, cousins, friends...I had a party with 25 or so people (4 days before Thanksgiving.) I just love a challenge, and birthday cake. Red velvet with the most amazing frosting in the whole wide world. I could eat it by itself in a bowl, and I'm not really a frosting girl. Just give me the cake.

Bubba's favorite gift, a REAL, pink guitar. I can't tell you how many renditions of
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" I've heard.

I've also been busy on the sewing front. Here's a scarf I just completed with some extra fabric from a quilt I'm doing for the couch. It's a super-soft flannel in beautiful holiday prints. A little whimsical without being childish. The quilt and scarf have exposed seams on one side that get clipped and then fray in the wash, making a little fringe around all the blocks. I saw the quilt in progress at the local quilt shop and even though it's a little too "country," I thought it was pretty and it gave me a good excuse to buy the flannel I had seen on my last visit. Yes, I need an excuse to buy fabric. This is a taste of what 336 quilt square blocks looks like. I think I actually cut out closer to 400, but only needed 336. My kitchen looked like it was covered in a film of fuzz after I was done. Well worth it, though. I just think these colors are so soft and pretty. And it will be nice to have something seasonal on the couch to snuggle up in.

I do not need an excuse to buy yarn. In fact, my local shop was having a coupon sale...how convenient. I bought some wonderful washable wool for a new hat for my Dad, and some bulky, 100% silk yarn in a beautiful, shimmery silver. Perfect for a holiday scarf. Taa-daa. As if I've got nothing better to do.

The holiday baking season has begun, after all. And my darlin' Sy gave me the three BIG King Arthur Flour cookbooks for my birthday. I told him I might as well just paste the pages to my thighs. These cookbooks have centerfolds, for crying out loud. I wanted to lick the pages, it's baker porn.

Abbie, do you want some more pumpkin whoppie pies? I can't be the only one eating this stuff.

So much for that...

I tried to refuse to have a 3-year old in diapers. She won. Bubba and I butt heads frequently, and sometimes I just don't listen as well as I should. She just isn't ready. I'm okay with it. I think peer pressure was getting to me (damn, I thought I left that behind with high school!) I need to thank Ann for her reassuring words that it's not just BubbaLou that loves her diapers, and no matter how well spoken and mature she is, she's still a very little toddler.

On the home front, Sy has started to side the front of the house! Hurray! I love finishing touches the most. Even if it means I will spend next spring and summer painting.

My painted floor-cloth will be finished this weekend, just have to polyurethane it. Three times. I made it to coordinate with another rug in my kitchen so that I can have one in front of my cooktop that can be mopped off instead of washed. I think I did a pretty good job for my first attempt, but it is a much more involved process than I was led to believe (2-day project, my ass Martha.)

It's about 3 feet by 7 feet. It was all supposed to be stripes, but I don't have a lifetime to wait for paint to dry so I can waste more painter's tape. I like the dots a lot.

Excuse my scatterbrain, but my camera's working again, so interesting things are just gonna show up here and there.

This is what is behind the siding on our 1870's (?) farmhouse. Very old newspaper. Useless insulation, but fascinating artifacts. And in surprisingly good condition. We can't wait to take the siding of the rest of the house.

Abbie, I'l have to see if he's willing to part with any for you!

Effeciency

It is amazing how much you can get done when you're home alone.

BubbaLou officially started pre-school today and Sy is generously letting me take the week off. I haven't had more than a few hours to myself since BubbaLou was born. Let me tell you, I will enjoy these three days! Just today I finished the sweater-vest for T (I already know I'm going to have to do another one for BL), finished the painting in BL's new room, repainted a decorative box for my bathroom, and helped Sy install the railings on the front porch when he got home. Oh, and I CLEANED the master bathroom. Hands-and-knees cleaned.

Tomorrow BL doesn't have "school," so I'm taking her to the Montshire for the day with Nana. Today was her second full day at school without me and neither day has she napped. I'm glad she's not there for more than 2 days at a time so she can get some sleep in between. BL is a 2-hour nap a day kinda girl and gets pretty cranky in the evening without it (not to mention she doesn't sleep as well at night if she's over-tired!) I hope she gets into the swing of things at school by next week.

Thursday and Friday she'll be in school, so my to-do list is the length of my arm. I'm hoping to finish the waist-cincher sweater from Knitting Lingerie Style...it just needs seaming and the stitches around the neckline. I'm recreating my wonderful kitchen rug in 3 painted floor cloths so I can sweep and mop them off instead of machine washing! I need to sew a special blanket for BL to take to school for nap time (hopefully she'll start taking them there.) And to top it all off, on Friday I have to move everything off of and from underneath my kitchen "counters" and remove the counters so Sy can install the new cabinets and part of my countertop. Very exciting. To have a surface I can actually clean! Like my upper cabinets, they won't have doors (or drawers) but its a start. Sy doesn't want to do drawers or doors until he can do them all at the same time in an assembly line. I can understand that.

As soon as my camera is working again, I will post new pictures of the house. The porch looks so wonderful with the railings up. They're really simple and classic, but they make a statement and anchor the porch. Next is the ceiling and the paint...then something will be really finished around here!

Fanconia Notch

We hiked around The Flume in Franconia Notch, NH on Sunday. We had a wonderful time and BubbaLou loved it! I'm happy that the basis for the "Unprofessional" blog came about after this little adventure.

Unprofessional

I am livid. And I don't care who knows it, including my employer. But let me start at the beginning...

Sy is going back to school in less than a month. Actually in a week and a half. This means I have to get a "full-time" job, put Bubba-Lou in daycare :( and apply to the state of NH for some financial assistance. But we're all very excited he's going back to school.

My current employer is well aware of my current situation, and we have discussed increasing my hours from 16 to 32 a week. Perfect. Work 4 days, spend 3 with Bubba-Lou. And the added bonus is that her daycare is just down the street from work, so I can drop her off right before I go in, and Sy can pick her up when he gets out of school. My current employer and I had an hour long sit down meeting and discussed what days I could work, what responsibilities I would take on, etc. All was decided.

So I thought.

Meanwhile, I called and turned down a job offer (with a past employer) for more money, because the hours would mean Bubba would be in daycare before 9am, and I wouldn't be home until right before her bedtime (not to mention the longer commute and more gas $). More money is not always the answer. My family is the most important thing to me, and I have to do what's right not only for my checkbook, but them.

Jump to today...4 days after the sit down meeting. I get a phone call during which my employer states that after some "soul searching" and "reviewing the numbers", she just can't give me 32 hours a week. I can only keep the hours I'm currently getting. My employer goes on to say how she really doesn't want to lose me, because I'm such a valuable employee, and even though I already stated I would not work 2 part-time jobs she really wants me to work 2 days for her. Oh, and she bets that my former employer, if I called back, would understand and give me the job I turned down. No, I refuse to lower myself and beg, how does she think that is going to make me look? "Hello, sorry but I've changed my mind and do want the job. I hope you haven't hired anyone else, but maybe you could give them a call?" How unprofessional, how imature. I should not have even been told I could have what I needed, if she was still deciding if she could afford me. I was upfront and honest with her about other opportunities I had and that I really wanted to stay employed with her. I'm one of the lucky people that loves their job, and it makes me a better employee. Until I get screwed with only 2 weeks to find a job that is willing to work with a limited schedule (due to daycare constraints) and is willing to pay me enough to survive.

Okay, I understand not being able to afford me. I make more than anyone in the shop, but I also have more experience. Hell, I have more retail, sales and business experience than my boss. And I tell you what, she could afford me...if she knew how to cut corners and make a business run efficiently. She's been in business for about 2 years now and she usually only works in the shop on Saturdays. She pops in and out the rest of the time when she's on the way to her office (that she pays extra rent for, even though I've been told she has a great office at home.) I'm sorry, but if this were my business and I wanted it to be a success, I would be willing to pay qualified help, I would work every day if needed in the store, and I would do my paperwork and bookeeping at home until midnight if I had to to keeps costs minimal. I have worked for some very successful, very dedicated business people and I know what it takes. It takes perseverance, dedication, a very strong commitment, and the understanding that your "free time" doesn't exist anymore. Creating a successful business means that you have to work through exhaustion, burn out and illness because you don't have a choice. If you're strong enough to make it a success, you get a second wind, you don't burn out because you love what you're doing, and you don't get sick because you don't have time. Anyway, if you get burnt out in less that 5 years, why did you start a business to begin with? What were you planning on doing in 10 years? Retiring? Who wants to buy into a failing business, or for that matter, a business that isn't reaching its full potential? No one.

On a happy note, Bubba just informed me she "pooped big" on the potty. Hurray for potty training, it gives me a great reason to applaud wildly and yell "hurray" everyday!