What I've Been Up To

I do think it's a sickness, this thing that often comes along with being a woman. That part where it's very hard to say no. I know I am certainly not alone in this, yet how do so many of us get ourselves into such things?

What started as a very small project, helping a friend out last August, turned into a huge, 100+ hour, quilt project. My friend's son is graduating this weekend and last August she just wanted some tips on how to conceive of a T-shirt quilt. Never having made one, I gave her a few thoughts I thought she might find helpful, etc. Well, as the months went on it turned into a project I took on (because I can't say no) and I bit off WAY more (it's queen size and I quilted it in MY little machine) than I can chew. But, I finished it this week. It's a lifetime of memories for her and she has cried the two times I have seen her since she picked it up.

See, that's the hard thing about saying no. It would be one thing if she'd begged me to jump off a bridge with her (that saying's for you Mom)...that would be an easy no. However, cutting up and sewing together a lifetime of t-shirts, jerseys, pictures and sentiments is a very worthwhile endeavor. That's why it's so hard to say no.

So, here's the finished project. I think it would have come out better if I'd had someone quilt it on a long arm machine, but it's fine. And miracle of all miracles - it's actually perfectly square. It's too big for me to get it all in one pic. Crazy!


Next up, I'm working on 19 scrapbooks for Delaney's Kindy class. It's a tradition every year that the teachers give a scrapbook to each student, full of their Kindy work, pictures and memories. The teachers donate the binders, page protectors, and pictures and the parents do the rest. I haven't scrapbooked in years (probably since Jackson's Kindy scrapbook) and while it's been fun, each book is about 50 pages long, so I've been busy!

I didn't want to say no to this project. First of all, it's for one of my own kids, so of course it's a priority. Plus, I actually signed up to be in charge because I'd done it with Jackson's class and I had a good idea of what was involved. I was totally blindsided by it when he was in Kindergarten. I don't regret it, but it sure is lots of work!


And, because I was in the kitchen taking pictures, I figured I'd take a pic of my new chandelier. I think the only person interested in this is Steph, because she generally is interested in house "stuff". This is my deal of the year. I got it 75% off at a little store in our downtown area (Little Traveler, for those of you in the know). I love how big and substantial looking it is, and I love the recycled glass shades. It makes me happy every day.




My friend, Louise (who has a private blog, otherwise I'd link you there), is so good at documenting her daily going-ons. It's not always super glamorous or exciting, but always interesting, because it's LIFE. I'm hoping to get better at that. So, in the spirit of that, here are some rather mundane, but noteworthy (to me) things that are filling our days at the Clark home:

1. Youth Conference and Girls Camp are keeping me super busy. I look forward to summer, and the slower schedule that it brings, and yet this summer, I think it will be very busy with these responsibilities. I'm starting to mix the two up, and am grateful for some really wonderful women who work with me at church. They are the organized ones who keep me all straightened out. For example, at Youth Conference the kids can administer their own medication, but at Girls Camp, the nurse has to. Seems simple, right? But somehow I'd mixed this around last week. Little things like that are keeping me on my toes.

2. Jeff has had a hope and dream for many years about what he'd like to be when he grows up. He's been working really hard at it recently, and it's actually turning into something! He's gotten his first "paying" gig and it's going well and I'm just super proud of him.

3. Jackson has worked so hard at baseball this year. It's all he thinks, talks or does in his spare time (well, with a few Legos thrown in). His hard work is paying off and he's done great in the past few games. It's funny how as a mom, I care so much about how he does, just simply because he wants it so badly and has worked so hard towards it. It kills me when he doesn't succeed at something he has really put the effort into. I know it is the first of many life lessons for me as a mom, and him as a growing child, but ugh...I just want to make everything perfect.