Pillowcases for Charity

Every year the local quilt shop I like to go to has a "garage sale". For one night (usually a Friday) they fill their class room area full of fabric that they sell for $1.00-$2.50 a yard. Last year I dragged my husband and Logan to attend and went...ummm...should we say a little crazy. I was buying fabric I liked five yards at a time!

A year later and all this fabric was still folded up in my quilting basket - untouched. Then I read about "One Million Pillowcase Challenge" in one of my quilting magazines. The idea of this is to make and donate pillowcases to local charities in your community. The pillowcases go anywhere from homeless shelters, YMCA, YWCA, children's hospitals, cancer patients, foster children, the list goes on and on. My first thought was - "What a great way to use up some of this fabric."

So I got busy measuring and cutting out my five yards of fabrics and any other large pieces I had laying around from quilts I had made. I am currently at 11 pillowcases; though I think I will run out of large enough pieces of fabric at 14 or 15.

I always say that I was put here to make a difference, for a purpose. Though this is small in comparison to what some do, at least it's something.

Whenever I bring up volunteer work, my husband (who's "funny" about charity or volunteering) always says I picked the wrong life to save the world. If I want to make a difference than I should have never got married or had kids. My retaliation is always, why can't I do both? I'm not flying off to less fortunate countries, or abandoning and neglecting my family to help others. All the "small" things matter too. Whether it be cleaning up a local park, walking/running for a specific charity/organization, or making a few pillowcases. Besides, it makes me happy, and we all know "A home is not a happy home unless mom is happy."

Chama, NM

We finally took a much needed weekend away this Father's Day. The last time we received any time off was a weekend in August of 2009; so we were way overdue.

The weekend was spent in Chama, NM. A small, cute little town. The main attraction is the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. An old steam train that, for a few months out of the year, takes tourists and visitors from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO.

Logan was - as all little boys - extremely excited about the whole trip; from the motel room to the train itself. He giggled and shouted "Woooowww". In the open compartment car, Logan laid flat out and watched the train go through the cracks in the floor.

On our way home, we stopped and "toured" the Ghost Ranch. Another ranch here in New Mexico that films many movies (the cabin is from the movie "City Slickers".) Here, there is evidence of dinosaurs so of course we had to go through the Archaeological Dinosaur exhibit!

A lovely family weekend!!!

Paradise

Why does everything seem to fall apart at one time? Our computer is still on the fritz (hence I am blogging from the office right now), our VCR went out, our car has a short in it which causes the noise of the blinker to go on and off (I swear the other day after I turned the car off, smoke was wafting out of the steering column) and Logan tore the blinds in his room out of the wall (and they were professionally installed!)

Just another day in paradise! :)

Exhausted

Yesterday I awoke at my usual 6:30 am time to cook breakfast for my husband. I usually have a piece of toast first thing in the morning, wait for that to settle, then move on to something else. However, yesterday was the day to do my glucose screening for this pregnancy therefore no carbs and no sugar. My stomach growled hungrily as I watched the few eggs I scrambled up slowly solidify in the pan. Wanting to get out of the house as soon as possible to get the testing over with (I'm pregnant, it's all about when I will eat next!) I hurriedly got Logan and his stuff ready - a diaper bag filled with the usual change of clothes, snacks, drinks, wipes, etc and his Spiderman backpack filled with books and toys to keep him entertained for a long day ahead. We got out the door and down the driveway at 9:30 am, I counted how long I would have to wait before I can eat again. I hate fasting with a passion, but especially when I could feel a little one jumping around my belly in hunger as well.

At the hospital I tried to guzzle down my orange sugar drink as fast as possible while still answering the questions the receptionist kept throwing my way. The sooner the drink went down the sooner they would click my timer for my hour wait before drawing blood. As I took my seat and showed Logan all the toys I brought him, I wondered how he was going to do sitting in this small waiting room for the next hour - not able to run around. I watched the hands on the clock slowly tick by. Finally at 11:40 am I heard my timer and started gathering the trail of toys that had emerged from Logan's backpack. The nurse drew my blood and we were out of there.

Next stop - food!

By the time Logan and I ate lunch, ran to UPS, and filled the two liquid nitrogen tanks we were carrying around, it was already time for my checkup. Again I gathered Logan up with all his things and headed inside thinking to myself how this part shouldn't take too long, all they had to do was take my blood pressure, listen to the heart beat, and measure how big my tummy is getting. However, my 2:30 pm appointment turned into a 4:15 pm appointment since my doctor was running so far behind, and because she had a medical student side kick; everything had to get done twice.

And after the appointment our day was still not done. Next the grocery store. Luckily I had decided the night before to hold off on a big shopping trip until this weekend. All we had to pick up were a few things to last us until then.

Logan and I finally pulled up beside the front of the house a little after six; Logan passed out in his car seat. I carried him inside, laid him down in bed, and kissed his cheek. Bless my little boy's heart!! A busy day most of which was sitting around doctor's offices and he was so good! I left him to sleep while I put things away and started dinner.

A restless night and the previous day's activities have left me feeling tired and worn down today. Why is it that running errands around town always makes me feel so tired? Yet there are things to be done today and work to do.

Easter

It seems I am more excited about doing holiday activities than the rest. Of course Logan is still quite young and doesn't exactly grasp the concept of it all yet. I'm sure when he is older he will be just as excited as I.

Last Saturday I set up the pots to boil our Easter eggs (yes we used real eggs.) After much anticipation the eggs were finally done and we were able to start dying. My husband, trying to save a mess from happening, tried to keep Logan locked in his high chair while he dyed the eggs. Of course Logan would have no part of this! What fun is it being trapped watching everyone else dye? I told my husband who cares about the mess! We have newspapers down it won't be that big. So Logan stood on a chair and began dying his eggs with the rest of us, all smiles.

On Easter morning, Dad (my husband) went outside to hide the eggs for Logan to hunt down after breakfast while I prepared his basket for collection. It was my job to aid Logan in the hunting as I didn't know where the eggs were hidden either. After showing Logan what to do with the first egg (find it and put it in your basket.) He was ready to go; running all over the yard, hunting the eggs down and placing them non too gently in his basket. Of course after finding them all he went out to re-hide them!

Goofing Around

You know what I love about kids? They're not afraid to be goofy, to just be themselves. As we get older, most of us start becoming inhibited about being silly. And sometimes we are labeled a disruption, or even a dork.

I remember once during Christmas at my Grandparents house (I was a teenager), my uncle bought us kids a board game and on Christmas day he sat down to play it with us. On one of my turns I drew a card that said I had to beat my fists on my chest and yell like Tarzan; I felt so foolish. As I look back now, I wonder...why? It's not like I was standing in the middle of the high school cafeteria doing this? What was the problem?

Now as a mom, I embrace my inner child! I run around like a maniac, flailing my arms everywhere and shouting funny words. (Hey, it makes my son laugh!) I make funny faces, dance and twirl around the kitchen until I'm dizzy. I don't have time to think about being self-conscious; I just be me, a mom goofing around with her son.

Stay at Home Moms

Back when my husband and I were first married and we discussed having children, the topic always came around to how more than likely - because my husband can be lazy - he would be a stay at home dad while I earned the bread to keep the family going.

However, now that I have Logan and another little one on the way, I think often of how nice it would be to stay at home and play (okay I know it's not just playing) with our kids all day long.

I brought this up to someone one time and got back, "You don't really want to stay home do you?" My first thought was that I would like to have the option at least.

Somewhere along the lines it seems that the women wanting to stay at home and tend to the children have become estranged. Like there is something wrong with her if she doesn't want to go out and "climb the corporate ladder" so to speak. Why? There is nothing un-noble about staying at home. In fact I have heard time and time again that a stay at home mom has the equivalent work load of two full time jobs. Yet, she doesn't get paid.

My husband and I were discussing this topic the other day on our way home from town. He said that it all had to do with the feminists. Now, I don't consider myself a feminist, I do believe that women are equal to the same rights as men; but I also believe that if you choose the equality route you need to buck up to your fair share also. I know several feminists and they all seem to want their cake and eat it too.

I was reading an article about a woman who, while in college felt alienated because while her friends all were excited and craving the high end jobs, she was pulled more toward staying at home and tending to her house and children. She wrote how she was lucky to find a man (whom she married) that supported her choice, and once they were financially able, she lived what her heart told her was the right place for her.

There was a quote from the article said by Tasha Tudor, "Whenever I get one of those questionnaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down 'housewife'. It's an admirable profession; why apologize for it? you aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam, you can read Shakespeare."