Yesterday was a difficult day for the kids. We had unexpected guests who will likely bring Bats! meow… additional traffic, but brought up some unhappy memories that affected our youngest. Newspaper reporters = good. Certain topics of convo = bad. It’s not that they even talked to her, but the experience of them being in the house was too similar.
So, as she sat on my lap last night crying and trying to curl up into as tiny a ball as possible, I asked what would make her happiest. The kids are on spring break through the weekend, so today could be used to spoil them just a bit. Her request was simple enough – a picnic at the cemetery and a trip to the park. Yes, the cemetery. It’s quiet with big trees for shade and no noise or fear of someones child stepping on your food. Truth be told, mama needed a little pick me up too 🙂
When I got up, I feared I heard rain. But no, they promised a bright and sunny day – with record-breaking temps. I’m no big fan of the high temperature, but a promise is a promise. So, right after breakfast we started packing. “Peanut butter &” sandwiches: two requests for plain PB, two for PB&J, and one for PB & Miracle Whip. We packed blankets, “fancy” cups, plates, and then headed to the store for the extras – oatmeal date cookies, strawberries, whipped cream, and a couple kinds of chips – oh! and flowers. Then straight to Maplewood West and our favorite picnic spot under the big tree and a bit away from the headstones. Of course, we’re still surrounded by them, but we’re not ‘on’ anyone.
Ravynn and Whisper perked right up after we got settled. It was so good to see Whisper smile 🙂 The fact that she got to pick her own chips and strawberries was a key factor, I’m sure.
The boys had a good time too. Doritos with Cool Whip [eww!] and good sandwiches kept them happy and in a chatty mood. It’s nice when the teen-aged sons still like to hang out with the family.
Ravynn and I shared a special moment toasting “weirdos and freaks.” We caught the first one on camera, but there were many many similar moments – trust me 🙂
We all enjoyed the fresh strawberries, although some of us [ahem… Jordan] made a much bigger mess than the rest.
And the picnic ended with delivering flowers to a very special girl.
After that we ran over to Shadyside Park where I sat and read Practical Magic while the kids played. Together.
It was a lovely day and a nice part of our spring break.
~ sheila
I cannot tell you how excited I am for this movie.
Watch the trailer; it will touch your heart. I’ll certainly post about it again with more information.
I find a ton of really cool offers and information at BzzAgent; I’m registered there as ‘monstermommy’.
~sheila
I’ve been away from posting for awhile [and feeling incredibly guilty about that]. Spring is always a very busy time for our family and leaves little time for extras. These past few weeks, though, Eric has been working on a movie with a local director. When a call went out for zombie extras, the rest of us couldn’t wait to be involved.
In Beverly Lane, Eric plays a redneck zombie killer who shows up to help a small office full of people deal with the Zombie Apocalypse.
Goofing off between scenes.
Alek and I were labeled as Featured Zombies and spent an extra few days on the set causing mayhem. Oh, and goofing off between scenes.
We’re coming to get your braiiiiiiiiiiiiiins!
The movie was also covered in the local paper this morning. The article “Zombies Take Over Local Scrap Yard,” features photos of Eric and of Ravynn and Whisper. Sadly, I can’t figure out how to copy them out from the website [because they want us to buy them]…
Now that filming is done, I’m back to website re-creation. Writing product description copy makes my head hurt. More on that later 🙂
~sheila
My friend, Lady Euphoria, who blogs at Thoughts from an eclectic goth mind, sent a kind email this morning to let us know about a fuss caused by our Gothic Christening Gown. It seems the mommy blogger over at MomLogic found our little dress slightly upsetting. At least that was the tone I gleaned from her post. Never sure if the way I’m reading something is the way I should [emotions and intent often disappear online], I had a few friends check in. Most of them agreed that the review wasn’t favorable, but one pointed out that we were categorized under ‘weird & fun’. I suspect we fell specifically under ‘weird’, but there is a chance she was enjoying the creativity in the design and intended the ‘& fun’. Maybe?
Click the link, see what you think…
I did consider that this wasn’t an entirely mocking blog post, but the ‘funnies’ she included are the standard points made by anyone who has a real problem with us and the way we raise our kids. The question of what will we do when the girls rebel and want to wear pink… while I’m not a fan of pink, I don’t think it’s the symbol of my worst fears concerning my children – unlike what many of them seem to believe about the color black.
I absolutely LOVE this design. I love making it, packing it, shipping it; I love knowing babies will be wearing it. Heck, I even liked dressing up the non-creepy little doll and doing the photoshoot in the park. I’m quite proud of it and the matching bonnet and have decided to enjoy this unintended promotion.
Thanks MomLogic!
EDIT: I should note that I don’t judge people who choose normal to be bad or inadequate; normal simply isn’t what I choose for my family 🙂
Thoughts from an eclectic goth mind
Eric ran out to a long-overdue poker game Friday night. Not only was it time for a game, but it was also a needed break with some old friends. Truth be told, I also enjoy having a night home alone every now and again. To read, write, or work on business stuff after the kids are in bed and the house is quiet. Yes, I can do all of that with Eric here, but I hate to feel like I’m ignoring him. And I get so caught up in what I’m doing that sometimes I actually am.
Friday night I took full advantage of the situation. Kids and I ordered in pizza and sat around watching TV favorites until the girls went to bed. At 10:00, we switched to a movie, but the boys were tired and asked if we could finish it Saturdya when they got up. Sure thing 🙂 Throughout the evening I was busy plugging away at the data entry on the new shopping cart. So much of it could be copied and pasted from the existing site, but the setup is changed enough that the current product descriptions look lost on the page. I was struggling to beef them up. And letting my frustration get the better of me. Although I love writing and don’t normally have a problem with getting text on the page, I did find it really difficult to write promotional copy. Pimping, if you will.
There was a lot of whining; my children mocked me. I am sure that every five minutes, there was a wee cry of ‘I hate this job,” and a response of, “maybe whining will help.” Brats. But there were right. Whining didn’t help. So I took a deep breath, poured a glass of the only wine Eric and I have ever both liked and settled down under a blanket on the sofa.
I love red wine, but Eric doesn’t. It’s the spices that do it for him 🙂 I have to admit, I love them too.
Before long, I wanted to be a little more comfortable and moved into the bedroom with the laptop, all my notes, and my new copy of ‘Practical Magic”. I love that movie! And it’s a good one to watch while I’m working – I’ve seen it so often that I don’t even have to look at the screen to know what’s going on. But the plan worked – all of the items are into the database and today will be spent beefing up those product descriptions – as well as grocery shopping and doing laundry.
Exciting life, I lead. No?
Getting back into the habit of blogging is HARD.
Initially, I was away with several sick kids. We spent the 18th celebrating the Pip’s birthday at a local Mexican place. It was a great time. Despite Jordan having been home sick that day with a bad stomach ache, he was feeling better and in a party mood. The other kids were chipper and didn’t even fight over who got to sit next to Mama. We laughed and sang together as the servers helped the birthday girl enjoy her special dessert.
Unfortunately, about an hour after we got home, three of the kids were complaining of the same stomach ache Jordan had earlier. No other symptoms – just a pain that on more than one occasion had them laying on the floor yelling out in pain. It was heartbreaking. Throughout the next week, we had kids home from school; one on the first day; two on the second; one on the third; I even got called to school several days to bring meds or to bring home sick children. It was a mess. But, we’re done. Whisper, the lucky birthday girl, never did catch whatever it was. YEAH!!
Even after the recovery, it was easy to just stay away and not look for witty and interesting topics to talk about. Naughty.
Although, I’ve not had much time for sewing, I have taken steps toward a new sachet design. I’m researching a design to embroider on the front of the sachet and then need to work on the smelly mix for inside. Quite a change from what I normally favor, I’m looking toward a more ‘girly’ pink and green palette for this new item. Mostly because of the color significances to go along with the aromatherapy, but the girls suggested it was about time. I’m looking forward to cutting and stitching.
And I need need need to spend time formatting the new shopping cart we’re using for the website. I have a HARD deadline of March 25 [and yes, I know how soon that is!] so the site is ready for showing off and [ahem!] pimping by April 2. We have plans in the works that have great potential for more traffic. And our customers must be happy.
Purplume, one of our regular commenters, has nominated us for the Happy 101 Blog Award 😉 I encourage you to go and check out her blog – I love reading it and would have nominated her, but… it can’t work that way.
Cool, no? Good friends give on to others. They share the love and wealth and cupcakes. And so, the rules for this privilege are to:
- Copy and display the award on one’s blog.
- List who gave me the award and link to their blog.
- List 10 things that make me happy.
- Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know.
Let’s see, things that make me happy:
- Eric, my love and partner in crime. We’ve been together forever, but those hugs still fix what ails me.
- The monsters [Jordan, Alek, Ravynn, & Whisper] and the music of their laughter.
- Mail with stamps – cards, letters, invitations, postcards.
- Crashing through a roadblock in my genealogy research or finding new-to-me old family photos.
- Finishing a new product design and pattern and showing it off 🙂
- Moose tracks ice cream on an almost hot summer day.
- Exploring old cemeteries.
- Snuggling under the blankets ALL DAY on a Saturday and watching movies I’ve already seen 100 times.
- Knowing that, if only for a few minutes, all of the laundry in the house is clean, folded and put away.
- Being able to drive with the windows open for the first time each spring.
And for the blogs, I nominate and recommend:
La Vida Dulce
Crush Mix Blend
Smarter than Pancakes
Mommy’ s Journey
I had hoped by this point to have new product to show off. Unfortunately, even with a basic template for the art that I want to drop onto this new item, I am failing mightily. I trace and edit and it’s still not working. I think I’m close, but I need a couple more pair of eyes to check it over to figure out what exactly I’m doing wrong. It may actually be nothing, but… I’m too close to it.
When the kids get home from school, I’ll have the boys check it over. Also, Eric is on his way home from work, so maybe he’ll look it over. After confirming the office wasn’t closed for President’s day and also after answering work email [that came in this morning] from home, he drove in. Only to find the office closed. He’s supposed to get a phone notification when the office is closed, but no call came. He’s cranky 🙁
We may head out for lunch, but at the same time get some work done on this new product.
I’m crossing my fingers.
~sheila
UPDATE: I just talked to a friend who owns a design company out of Pittsburgh and he’s willing to help out with the dog ‘problems’. I know good people and I’m happy for the support we give each other.
I do so love winter.
Frozen fog sounds awful, but it sure is pretty. When I ran across town to deliver Alek’s backpack to the school [woops! he forgot it] this morning, I took some photos at the park. I use this park for a lot of the product photos on my website. I rarely see it in winter. I think I’ve been missing out.
This is a rock wall which separates a picnic area from the playground. I have to admit I’ve never noticed it before.
Just after I took this photo an older woman drove up behind me and rolled down her window. “Lovely day for photos, isn’t it?” And she shook her camera at me. We talked about the ice frozen on the trees and agreed it was a shame that the paths weren’t clear for walking. I would have loved to get down by the river which I could hear running in some place I couldn’t see.
I did push my way into the park a little ways to explore the winter. I love how each branch is completely encased in ice. And how you can see the unused playset in the background – oh, the cruel beauty that is mother nature 😉
Happy to be back home, I’m enjoying a hot cup of coffee and will soon head out to the sewing studio.
~sheila
Although we started this morning with news that EVERY school in the area was not just on a 2-hour delay [those are so common we don’t even celebrate them], but was closed, my four monsters were loaded into the van for a trip across town to the dentist. At 8am. I suspect I’m a bad mother, wasting a perfectly good snow day in that manner. I issued reminders for them to bring any homework they hadn’t finished the night before OR a book OR some game device. They complied and we were early.
I also was a good little student and grabbed a stack of books I picked up at the library last night. Just a few on different ideas for kid’s clothing – sewing, knitting, crocheting. I found some great ideas for hats and dresses – even some dolls 🙂
The most exciting information in any of the three books I had time to browse through during the cleanings was found in an appendix, included like an afterthought, was a brief tutorial on freezer paper stencils.
There is a project that’s been bouncing around my brain for several years that I couldn’t quite figure out how to make work. But this new information brings me so much closer. Also found today is this photo from iStock that should help as well.
I’ll need to make some changes, but it’s great inspiration.
Now, if only I can make this work. I feel good about it. More to come.
~sheila
