may i use this location to visit my sins publicly?

i forgot something yesterday.

not in the "oh nuts, i forgot to get toothpaste while i was out" category.

this was a juicy lapse of memory.

i forgot completely, that my son was due to have his second set of wisdom teeth extracted.

the folks at the hospital...

were NOT AMUSED.

we have been down to one vehicle for months.

my brain has been out to lunch for as least as long.

usually, i rely on those annoying little prompts:

1. nagging family

2. nagging future patient

3. nagging sense of having forgotten something.

4. dr. office reminder.

the phone was on silent .

the dog did not care.

i never transferred the info from the paper on the fridge to the calendar 2 1/2 feet away.

the boy forgot too.

the memory of the first pair's extraction may have been influential.

all in all, a perfect storm of forgetfulness.

mind you, i took nearly a year to get daughter #1 to have her teeth extracted.

they canceled not one, but FOUR such appointments for her.

I think it just seemed as if i was experiencing ghost cancellations.

like they had happened and i felt their pain, but they really had not happened.

sheesh.

so i am gonna spend some time repeating the following mantra:

JUNE 8th. JUNE 8th. JUNE 8th.

and JUNE 8th.

all over again.

No matter what or where we are, including a possible high school graduation date,

college girl's household re-entry,

show for selling my jewelry...

we will really be at this hospital.

3 yrs of braces and wisdom teeth growing in sideways

are in conflict.

as is the opportunity to have it done with our health insurance coverage.

i hope that i can do this properly on round two.

if not, there will be no round three.

there is no more forgiveness alloted to this venture.

and so goes today.

wince. groan. whine.

imaginary face slap.

time to stock the fridge/freezer with special goods again.

it's always something...

(roseann rosannadanna)

xo.w.

now where do i put my silverware?

i am just itching for flea market season.

It is an itch i just cannot scratch soon enough.

it is keeping me awake some nights.

there must be other things i can obsess about... but not right now.

ok, it is all about money ...

yeah, i said it.

granted, there are much more pressing places for me to spend my monies these days.

this list for responsible money application also functions like a rolodex of guilt.

i think about it all the time.

so there is a little mental kick boxing in my head.

who gets the money?

what is my more pressing need?

i have trouble keeping my fingers off of the buttons

and accomodating my greedy obsession for

another brilliant little rhinestoned vintage buckle

or kitchy piece of floral 50's fabric.

really, i think there should be a 12 step program for flea market addicts.

and yes, i am a card carrying member of that group.

our eyes get a little misty and our cheeks flush,

as our speech grows a little faster... always when we share the story of a good score on something...

just ask any of us.

you will see the adrenaline rush.

it is palpable... and perhaps a little more addictive than one might think.

if you listen just a little carefully, you may even catch a smidgeon of the fever.

last year,

in spite of the obvious knowledge that i would be having 2 kids in college within 2 yrs...

i went to my local outdoor flea venue.

one of my happy finds was a decorated box.

at a later date, i found another box very similar.

same shape, same size, same purpose.

WOOOOHOOO!

one was empty, the other filled with wacky unmatched flat-wear pieces.

did not care one whit.

Both were originally intended to serve as housing for silverware.

i am lucky if i can find a matching pair of chopsticks.

as a hockey mom,

(HUGE untempered GROAN here)

there is no real time, rhyme or schedule that i can follow.

This has resulted in dinners in front of the t.v.

on the sofa.

NOT at the kitchen table.

the dining room table has never existed really.

the dining room serves as computer zone and storage way station.

so WHY on earth would i be trying to collect nice silver?

I do NOT.

except for projects or styling of projects.

it is a thing i would truly love, but is not purpose driven enough.

so i seem irrationally connected to

beautiful silver storage boxes instead.

one of the pretty parts of the storage is that the boxes are lined with soft felty fabric.

the boxes are old.

they have grown musty over time.

needless to say, that is a detraction for my interests.

this year i have challenged myself to try to get better at going to and setting up for shows.

some folks try to lessen their reliance on chocolate.

exercise more,

eat healthier,

join a book club....

and many other items that will be self improving in the long run.

i am sure that if i just make some of the small scale set-up for my shows a lot easier,

then i can do my set-up much faster.

as i have mentioned, there is a lot of stuff i roll around in my pre-sleep fog.

so i came up with this idea.

i want to not be responsible for arranging earrings when i am readying for a sale.

it is delicate work and helpful to not have to fuss with

either in set-up or break down.

it is really easy for me to get bogged down in the details

when i am exorbitantly tired.

and i have not managed to get myself prepped enough yet.

so here is one of my solutions.

i made my silverware storage boxes into earring displays.

i tried them out for a feb. show.

now i have some ideas for adjustments.

it is basically that i was so proud of myself, that i did not get the system perfect up front.

i figure that my show activities and all are a work in progress.

there is no timeline and no obligation.

it is all up to me.

i am pretty sure if i relax, i can do this.

i am getting better all the time.

here is what i did to create both display and storage.

i took my fingers and removed the fabric covered wooden slot thingie in the middle of the box.

held on hard and pulled. it was nailed in for both of them.

then removed all of the other skunky maroon felt from both of them.

as i was in a rush, and did not care about meticulousness,

i left some of the glue and threads from the fabric removal

for a scruffier, re-cycled look.

i have been trying to clear and clean and organize my studio space.

this has yielded materials that have been in "storage" for years.

i found a slightly warped piece of foam-core in my unused pile of stuff.

from this, i cut out 4 rectangles that fit the boxes.

one for the top and bottom on each.

i used some fabric from my hoard.

originally, my plan was to use some vintage tea towels,

but they had too much pizzazz for this project.

so i went with some almost white cotton with beige floral patterning.

something that would not interfere with looking at my jewelry in their new temporary home.

of course i want them to look good in my custody,

i want them to move along to other locations.

so i cut some of my fabric and hot glued it to the foam-core pieces already cut.

they were set into their new homes in the boxes.

fitting just right.

already i am feeling just so smug and self congratulatory,it is hard to be around me.

hubby helped me... he cut some wooden pieces and

we glued and clamped them into the sides of the boxes.

finally, the crummy contemporary yardsticks i had bought at local hardware stores were drilled.

i did this, using my nascent power tool skills.

hubby was sure that the drill press would split the wood.

it did not, but there are NO guarantees about this.

if you have a dremel, it would be better.

smaller holes would be less inclined to split the wood.

which is ultimately a really good thing.

into these holes, i put my earrings.

so smug.

so happy.

just a little bit off.

nothing new.

later, i will fix to make roomier between the rulers and the space behind them.

finger space desired.

so in need of adjustment.

it is the nature of design.

willingness to tweak in a good way.

because the bottom piece of the box was foam-core, i used pins to hold more earrings

and some lighter weighted necklaces.

all in all, i had a great time making the boxes.

i also enjoyed not having the panic setting up the earrings.

or breaking things down.

it is also really nice to see how much stuff i have and what i need to do to fill out my inventory.

so that is what is on my mind today.

xo.w.

treasure island and too.

i love making stuff.

i love people asking me to do it for them.

it makes my innards swell in a good way.

sometimes, my version of what someone asks for is just fine.

other times it is off base.

either by a little or a huge amount.

ultimately, my goal is to make the request fit a dream or a vision.

this usually depends on a free form interpretation of rough notes on the subject.

it doesn't always happen the first time through..

so i try things over and over 'til i get what i think is satisfying.

three times through is about my maximum tolerance for anything.

then i need to start completely afresh on a completely different design.

some ideas are worth a second try.

i get to fall in love while making things.

i am not so stubborn to ignore someone else's ideas

when i get to try them out with my own spin on them.

when this happens and think i need a copy for my own self.

my goal is to make make a faithful copy.

i really try my best.

rarely does the second piece match the first.

sometimes it grows and morphs into something a little better.

anyways, i made a necklace for my friend.

i wanted it.

baadly.

so i tried it all over again.

i offer both to her... and hope that one of the pieces match the original idea.

then a third idea starts.

it seems like i can get stuck in a loop like the movie

"Groundhog's Day".

everything starts with the same entire notion, but little tiny changes are added in and built upon.

There is a request for a 3rd try on this... but i am going to sleep on it.

i have hopes that this can be resolved in a snap.

if it isn't, i get to wear both necklaces until a decision is made.

i like these win-win situations.

if i do a third variation, then it is time to list on etsy.

my virtual home away from home.

now if i could only figure out how to get that etsy store widget on this blog-site.

xoxo.w.

The kids are all right.

or so i am told.

facebook was my source.

hubby took my little daughter, a confection of blond curls and a solid ass,

to her end of the season hockey tournament.

she is the only goalie for her team... so she always must play.

no matter what.

bad mood?

tough nuggies.

feeling a little febrile?

tough nuggies.

feeling a little teenaged?

tough nuggies.

really we never need to force her.

she really loves tending her goal.

it allows her to bark orders at people

who occasionally listen to her.

not much like here at home.

so this is what i found just now on facebook.

i took a beat to expand the acronym that she posted with it.

("The score is 8-0 idgaf anymore")

i suppose that the body language speaks for this attitude if i were actually paying adequate attention.

sometimes denial is the only way i survive.

this may be one of those times.

perhaps, i will start at what passes for a starting point in this delightful child's athletic commitments.

she is now just 14. however i will enter this at a point when she was 13 1/2.

i feel as a rope jumper getting into the game as it is underway...

so please bear with me.

tess.

a sweet baby. a good student. a humorist.

a moving object, unless uninterrupted computer time is found.

the kid who i thought was most like me.

now i understand , they all have qualities, that i can identify with as being found in my own

slightly off kilter personality.

(reserve your comments here please, there is space below for them).

for the first many years, i did find my sensibilities resonated most strongly in her.

we got along without any bumps or whistles for at least a decade.

i could rely on her at 3 years to explain what i said to the other two.

and now i can rely on that same skill to interpret my many moods to the others...

we have travelled many paths together .

i think that after having a first child who is tended to so very carefully, one is more willing to not be as scrupulous(read as neurotic) in following kids.

you find your pace, your milieu, your tolerances, etc. with each succeeding child rearing experience.

with my second child, a boy, i was unprepared for the completely different expression of dna.

now with the third, i got a sense of essential needs and the expectation of differences.

tessa is an athlete. simply because she enjoys it.

i am a couch potato... because i enjoy stuff that requires a steadier hand.

we overlap in some ways.

she is crafty.

so i am sure to have to share my things with her.

it tests me.

so i drive her to her many athletic venues

and support events.

sometimes this is self preservation.

last spring, in the middle of her second year playing lacrosse,

she was all kinds of unhappy.

there was a lacrosse event that players (teammates) were invited to.

it was a tournament in upstate NY.

she fully anticipated that she would be invited to participate (unrealistically so).

after a hockey season starting in september, ending in late march, tagging into the front end of lacrosse...

she felt as if she was due to be part of the duo going to the show.

both of the girls selected had been playing for years already.

one of the girl's dads is a college lacrosse coach.

seriously, tessie's dad and i looked at her like she was completely out of her depth.

there was no genuine justification for her expectation.

my hubby was the vessel into which she poured her crazy that day.

( he was driving her to and from school that day).

one needs a full suit of emotional armor for survival of this.

he prepared me for the emotional onslaught that was going to come again in another wave.

later in the month, the head of the lacrosse league gave us a call.

it seemed that the two girls invited to the big show,

who were accomplished players

as well as tessa's bffs,

would be attending.

However, there was another space made available.

so the league head, invited tess.

NO ONE could ever have been happier to receive this news than the child.

the weekend was only two days off, and as we are used to having to turn on a dime, we tried to get her ready.

this included the emergency trip to Target.

my "go-to" spot for decent stuff at decent prices in all shopping areas.

it even has popcorn and soda to keep my husband entertained and in the shopping mode.

all three of the kids needed stuff.

so we had a carriage piled high.

unfortunately, i had forgotten that i'd gone food shopping much earlier that day.

we wound up putting a lot of things back

or

on hold 'til a return the next morning on my way to the bus drop-off.

i am used to being an idiot and forgetful and not on top of everything.

the kids just roll with my ways.

it usually works out in the end.

let's face it, they get stuff that they want, so it is ok with them usually.

tess had packed her equipment.

a pillow, sleeping bag, pj's etc.

her clothes for her trip.

shoes for dancing.

shoes for casual living.

shoes for playing lacrosse in.

(as it was the real purpose of the event)

lots of stuff.

her toothpaste and underarm stuff.

generally, more stuff than anyone else seemed to need.

the one thing that we spent time shopping for twice at target was for a bathing suit,

should the opportunity arise for swimming.

so tess had her 4 bags, sleeping bag and equipment to offload to the bus.

you know i was just tickled to get there and on time.

her bff from pre-school and now through t0 middle school arrived

just a moment after we did.

she is an adorable freckly girl.

long legged and a little shy.

her mom suggested that she remember her need for sun screen.

i had in all the stuff amassed throughout the days preceding,

forgotten to include that item in the essentials inventory.

tess showed her friend the new swim suit.

needless to say... her friend had forgotten hers.

tess reached into her luggage and offered one of her two spare suits to her friend.

both bff's mum and i stared agape at one another in surprise.

sheesh.

now my child had emergently insisted that she needed a suit and had ultimately packed

THREE.

i felt a tad manipulated, but the girl does have a key to my heart.

i am often accused by my kids that i take all my better child-rearing cues from t.v. sitcoms.

so what if i do?

the whole event of tess packing for 2 days away, reminded me of a bit of schtick from "Seinfeld".

it was an episode where Jerry invited George to go to Atlantic City for a short weekend.

George showed up at Jerry's apartment with several pieces of luggage.

Jerry, surprised by the seemingly excessive packing, asks George if he is Diana Ross or something.

George responds, that he likes to dress for his moods.

so his need for a lot of stuff is based upon his mood, and the one he was in was

"morning mist".

so now i look at tess and ask if she is packing to feature her mood.

unfortunately today as she led off to the tournament. ...

the mood had shifted.

no longer is she "morning mist",

rather though, as

"bitchy mist".

living with a nascent 14 yo girl is always interesting.

so her posting on facebook with a strong assist from her 17 yo brother

is no real surprise.

although, it is.

the beauty of living with a smart phone and a couple of smart teens.

just thought you might be entertained.

the lesson learned here is that...

it is valuable to dress for your mood, not the event.

xoxo.w.

~~~~

i am trying.

i write a lot of different things down everywhere.

i lose pieces of paper on my lap.

i constantly move things and sort and file and move again.

then lose them.

i have a friend in toronto, canada.

she and i are almost in step with ideas of a jewelry and family lifestyle mode.

many of our experiences are different starting of course with our nationalities.

a tolerance for crappy weather.

some athleticism (she runs, i bead)

ETC.

not to bore you to death, but we seem to be able to communicate

about jewelry.

costume pieces

large.

purposeful

simple sometimes.

more often eye boggling.

always a little eccentric.

almost always in shorthand.

on occasion, i get a little email.

or a note scrawled on her son's artwork.

we really do see eye to eye.

this is a treasure for me.

so this week, i felt a little unplugged.

i could not understand what she was trying to inform me about.

i think it was a mental deficit on my part.

i had been with my kids for not one, but two overlapping

SCHOOL VACATIONS.

needless to say,

i was not on that joyous child free break.

as a matter of fact, due to the snow and other weather or health related events,

the darlings have been only in school 4 days a week max. since the year turned over.

this has halted creative productivity.

however i was able to put the non-child interrupting

thinking cap on yesterday.

this is what i was able to make for my friend.

we both needed it.

it is called treasure island.

i need a vacation soon.

can you tell?

above is the elegant solution to dreams of a tropical isle.

vacation and warmer care-free times.

just in time for my pal's visit to

florida.

(flowerida??)

below is an enlarged look at the hanging stuff.

it is all vintage,

repurposed,

upcycled,

reused

enjoyed.

and making me feel extra lucky.

i kept losing those faux coral branches over and over

for days.

and this is my favorite pic ...

two loves for me in one compact photo.

also my nascent

photoshop skills are in effect.

sniff sniff, so proud here!

clearly, it is well past my bed time.

night night world.

xo. w.

college vs. craft show applications

suddenly, i am returned to the bosom of my youth.

i applied to college in the dark ages.

it was a process delivered by handicrafted efforts.

what the heck is that?

well we had computers then, however...

they took up small wings at the Pentagon.

yeah i am pretty old,

(just try to deal with that please).

i will reciprocate and not judge you to be a whippersnapper ...

nor will i raise my clenched fist and sputter.

when we applied for college, it usually was done on legal or conventional yellow lined pads of paper.

ideas were scrawled in longhand

skipping lines.

the potential to edit ones self many times over and scratch through that poor choice of

grammar, vocabulary, penmanship, or other ball pointed frustration.

ideas were delivered to that pad many times over.

not only were they done one time, but more editing on top of that.

so you created some "rough draft" to be typed on your IBM selectric.

this was done so that you could edit it all over again.

it was a kind of progress.

you counted your words for the limit with your finger and out loud.

or to yourself.

and more editing happened to get the length just right.

eventually, you filled in all the little boxes with letters that informed the admissions office

of your curricula vitae.

name, home address, social security number,etc.

( folks were not jaded yet. they did not just refer to it as your "social")

no email addy, no no no. loads of hand writing.

some insecure folks, penciled everything onto their forms to go over in ink afterwards.

this allowed you to see how neatly you could pen the answers

to each little spot as you divulged what was required.

nope, no little squiggly line under a word to let you know if you inverted your spellings

nor any missed required fields and a little asterisk to remind you.

you just filled the whole thing in like it was a personal crossword puzzle.

and really, it was.

the joy was in filling in all the blanks to get you to the spot where a big envelope came in the mail.

somewhere around tax time.

so it was pretty much guaranteed that you would be insane the same week as your parents would be.

rarely did folks do taxes early enough in the season to let this week in april be about your

death defying

indelible,

unchanging,

rest of your life

choice or choices if you were really lucky

and

your

FUTURE!!!

WHY???

pray tell am i going on about this anachronistic view of my life that is not in any way relevant today?

well i am feeling a pinch.

tonight i had some minor squabble with my 17 yr. old son.

i used the word "contiguous" properly in a sentence.

he really is a very very smart guy.

however....

the vocabulary choice stumped him.

he says i know what things mean and all since i went to school when teachers gave a crap.

i defined his other agenda item about private vs. public education as not part of a good argument

on his part.

seriously, often issues are resolved by real estate in the world.

in this case, my case was made and his was lost on two points.

both were that the dictionary

that thick red cloth covered book,

within stretched arm distance

could divulge the answer to his insufficient vocabulary.

this only works if you extend your arm and open the book.

point two was made, that the teachers are not responsible

for teaching you what words may mean.

if in the case where you are embarrassed after 3 years of latin ,

that you do not know a word's meaning...

you could overcome a factor of

EXTREME LAZINESS

and look it up.

thus ending the private vs. public school argument prior to it starting.

seriously?

what could be going on in that head?

oh yeah.

FACEBOOK.

EMAIL.

U-TUBE.

GOOGLE.

i do not want to go on.

i apply myself to all of these media

as regularly as he does.

now you are wondering if you have lasted this long...

why is she rambling on about this stuff?

well i have been witness in the past two years to

two extremely smart, although quirky

COLLEGE APPLYING TEENAGED

CHILDREN

(my brain feels as if fluid is leaking out of it)...

applying to a combined number of 2osomething

schools.

the admission process,

is seemingly excruciating for all who enter

the domain of the

COMMON APP.

as it is affectionately referred to.

this application is an on-line , computer generated, fill in the blanks, hand holding, neat penmanship

event.

it is set to turn a perfectly pleasant person into a

crying, hand wringing, neurotic, procrastinating boob.

which is not what i wanted to have on my mind.

also there is the secrecy factor. they never have to let you see what they are doing.

the proof comes in a short email and a large snail mail envelope.

in stages of the not too distant future.

i feel ridiculous about the whole process.

i feel ridiculous about pampering the kids as they try to harness the process.

i feel ridiculous about my short-temper.

i feel ridiculous about the sums of money about to be poured into the colleges willing to accept my

little heartstrings... aka children.

i feel ridiculous about how much solidarity i want to extend to other parents in this.

and as i try to apply to craft shows to sell my wares, i feel ridiculous.

i am now going through a similar process.

applications are a testimonial to frustration.

dare i add some empathy when all i want to do is rage against the machine?

and now after all of my own efforts, i am

WAIT-LISTED.

really?

i want to say, i have been to college a few times.

you are not college.

you are a venue for altercockers and hipster dufuses to stroll around and stretch

an enjoyable day out as long as $20 (budget)

will allow them to.

so i am a little off kilter.

would you have expected anything more?

or less?

or are you just looking for some consistency in the world.

sun rising in the east,

taxes,

death,

ben franklin,

etc.

just think i am too old to try to not be resistant to some changes.

when they are for common good and ass biting at the same time.

love and hugs,

wendy.

on being 14.

i have a big project to attend to this friday evening.

it was not one of my own design.

it was started by my nearly 14 year old daughter.

she wants to have a party.

Real BAD!

ok, you know i really wanted to be grammatically sensitive and say "really badly".

but i am channeling my little drama queen right now.

and if i am fair, she often is channeling : Legally Blond.

I know this girl, and it is safe to say, that she is best followed.

it is too hard to try to push her into your version of what she wants or needs.

believe me , i have tried.

she is nice as can be about getting stuff done her way.

still i feel her little fingerprints all over me this time.

and you must know, i am ok with it.

truly.

how often does your kid take her/his ideas for a birthday party in hand.

figure out a guest list that works!

(this time it is going to be only her ice hockey teammates;

her besties will be treated to individual days of pampering or something more

relevant to their relationships.

these are the girls from her pre-school class, merely 10 years ago.

who knew.

that class of kids is reconnecting and it is hysterical.

many have stayed in touch all along.

as always, i digress).

my abhorrence of housekeeping is in play ... however i have done some bathroom

deep cleansing.

and vacuuming some rugs(it has to be done more than once.

the non-shedding dog has siblings all around us.

as if it were a magical event, the oven broke down.

it now influences the cake mixing.

OBSOLETE.

for now.

i am planning to do one of those frozen whipped cream and refrigerator cookies cakes.

seems easy, i have been responsible for their creation for many decades already.

if in doubt, freeze it.

back to the main issue. the child figured out what she wanted for her party.

1} bowling:$19.oo an hour for 6 kids or less.

including bowling shoes.

2} cake: 2 boxes, one yellow, one chocolate.

one can of cream cheese frosting.

eggs, oil, water in house.

$3.99 for all give or take.

and she wants to do it herself.

candles in house already.

i wanted to make her a real layer cake with whipped ganache icing, but she did not want that.

3} pizza: two pies. dominoes... less than $20.oo somehow.

perhaps a coupon involved.

it is in the 180 degree opposite direction.

plus i have boycotted dominoes for my own reasons

(something to do with support of anti-abortion/right to life politics...not mine).

so we negotiated to go half-way for a local less costly pizza.

and to eat it at our house.

4} they have a game at the Home Rink at 9 a.m. saturday.

voila!!! now sleeping over.

air mattresses are pulled from camping supplies.

so i will be making pancakes at 7 the next morning.

they are queenling's favorites.

i must comply . no whining either.

i promise to try.

5} goodie bags already made.

candy purchased at market for filling the chinese takeout containers i bought for other to-go events.

Candy: $8.oo

containers: free

labels for containers: printed off of momma's computer.

nearly free.

Party Total:$51.oo

at least in her mind.

she has not had a party since she was a toddler.

I owe her.

and

yes, we own

"Legally Blond"

so i am sure that we will be viewing it ...

if other girls can stay up that late after the social directress

has had her way with us all.

i remain amusedly, support staff.

photos perhaps to follow. one never knows.

please wish me luck. there is an ungodly amount of dog hair everywhere.

and i forgot, there is a banner .... handmade by the birthday girl.

who could ask for anything more?

xow.