decisions, decisions

Option 1:


Option 2:


Um, yeah... I think I'll go with door #2. Just 5 days to go!

pop art auction project

sewers*

Avery and I took full advantage of Monday's day off from school by sewing her an apron of her own! It was her first time using her new sewing machine (the one that I bought her for Christmas, then proceeded to use for my sewing class) but she did a great job. She took a couple of intro classes before, so she's practically an intermediate already.

As for the snow, just when every last flake had melted (~2pm), it started falling again, even heavier than this morning. 90 minutes later, it's still coming down fast & furious and sticking. Honestly, I could use a long weekend to get over this cough so another day off tomorrow would be fine by me. Above, Avery is doing her "snow dance" in hopes of another day of from school.


*It had never occurred to me until Christie (or was it Megan?) pointed out that sewer (one who sews) is spelled exactly the same as sewer (underground plumbing infrastructure).

snow day!

A before-school playdate, band, school, safety patrol, tap, basketball practice, and 2 field trips all canceled.

And everybody's thrilled!

jotting down

Josie has come to the conclusion, all on her own, that letters and numbers are all either boys or girls (well, except two, but I'll get to that). She hasn't quite determined the gender of all of them yet, but the ones that she's labeled so far don't ever change.

As of right now, she knows that 2, 4 and 9 are girls; 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are boys. The letters are apparently a little harder to distinguish--a, b, w, p, r, m, u, y, b and k are girls while c, d, g, t, i and o are boys. E and f are both a boy and a girl, and she's not sure yet about all the others.

Trust me, I've tried to trick her many times but she never falls for it. If I ask her something like, "so 2, w, 6 and m are all girls, right?," she immediately starts cracking up and says, "no, 6 is a boy, silly!"

She has no real explanation for the classifications, and neither of the older kids ever did this. Any other kids out there labeling letters & number this way?

lessons learned

Lesson #1: Never underestimate the difficulty of trying to photograph yourself in a "full-length" mirror made for a 10-year-old.

I finished my very first ever (ever, ever, ever) sewing project last night. I started a "learn to sew" class 4 weeks ago, and am quite pleased with the end result. Not necessarily the straightest of lines... but you know, in the grand scheme of things, I'm quite alright with that right now. Next up, I'm hoping to vastly improve upon my birthday number shirts for the kiddos (numbers sewn on--what a concept) and then who knows what.

Lesson #2: Never underestimate the kindness of family, friends, strangers.

There really aren't words to say what I'm going to try and say, but I have been so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support my family and I have received over the past few days. Flowers, food, cards, phone calls, emails, hugs... all of it was totally unexpected and has been so, so comforting. Thank you to all of you who reached out.

heather life

My big sister passed away this weekend, peacefully while she slept. She hadn't had nearly enough peaceful moments in her 36 years; it was only fitting for her final moments to be so. She had a brain tumor as a young child, and was never supposed to live to 4 or 5, and certainly not 10 or 20. 36 was simply never even an option. But, as it stands, I have no doubt she outlived many of the doctors who originally predicted her life would be cut so short.

Not that it was easy... she had surgeries, feeding tubes, falls, broken bones, prescription overdoses and a myriad of other medical scares. "Close calls" were just a way of life for her. Through all that, she continued to live at home with my parents who dedicated their entire adult lives to her care and well-being. While no one was ever convinced she would grow to be an old woman, the timing of her death this weekend was a huge shock.

The day before last Thanksgiving, she was at "school" (the center where went for a few hours every weekday) when she had a seizure and stopped breathing. My parents couldn't be reached so the paramedics called me and told me to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Sitting there in that room, with all those machines beeping and doctors surrounding her (no one sure what the hell they were doing), I was sure that her end had come. I was terrified that she was going to die there, in the middle of all that trauma. But, once again, she still wasn't ready to go. She was released from the hospital after a week's stay and lived another year and 2 months of life on her own terms.

So, I suppose that's the silver lining of this sad story. Heather will never have to see the inside of a hospital room again, with machines beeping and doctors hovering over her wondering what to try next.

She's at peace... for the first time in a long time.