birthday weekend...

ooooohhhhhh am i tired! we've had a wonderfully exhausting weekend full of celebrating stella's fifth year! i will be so happy to share photos (i'm back to film) after they are developed! hopefully tomorrow...for now...i'm hitting the sack...

thank you to everyone that helped me and contributed to making stella feel so special...especially loren and rich...they gave their time, house, friendship...i love you guys!!!! and my sisters who supplied cake, snacks, nail polish, face painting...oh the joy!!! and my mama, who made caramel apples, marshmallow fairy-mushroom-snacks!

it was so great...but i'm seriously falling asleep right here...so off to bed and photos will be up soon!

ETA: 6:47pm ACTUAL: changing every minute

so this is a desperate wife waiting anxiously for her hubby to come home. i think i've had it with the touring for now. it's been a busy year for it and i don't handle the temporary single-mom-ness well. anyway, i'm just jotting down my current neurosis because it is so funny....i wanted to see how chris' flight was doing...you know, on time, etc. so i googled JFK airport arrivals...at some point i ended up here where i've been SERIOUSLY watching his plane do circles over the ocean! stella and i are cracking up at the little red line behind the plane make little tiny OOOs...anyway...can't wait for him to be home!!! and according to flightstats...that'll be soon!!!

edited 7:16pm...landed on runway at 7:13. now...for the drive here from new york...
**sigh**

a week away to 5

i can't believe my little girl will be 5 next week. i think it is a universal feeling that the fifth year is significant. some bridging over from toddlerhood into little-kid-ness. this year, stella has decided exactly how and what she wants her celebration to entail...we will be having the obligatory family ice cream and cake on friday night, the day after her "real" birthday, and the all girl outdoor fairy beauty shop party on sunday. what a combo. we've been gathering ideas and supplies for the girls tranformation...she wants them all to get fairy skirts (we'll be making those), flower face paint (aunt lura has to do it), painted nails (by aunt andrea), and fancy hair (any volunteers!!??) we are having a pink tulle fairy house all decorated with gathered pine cones, acorns, leaves and other findings from stella's outdoor gathering times. this is all her. and i love it.

something very fitting popped up last night over here...i bought mine promptly and hope it arrives in time for me to stitch it up for her! acorn fairy's must be in the air! stella collected acorn tops for hats for the clothespin doll fairies she wants to make. we'll use some wool for hair, glue on the acorn hat, draw a little face, dress her up with fabric scraps, make some feather wings...and voila! this will be the "craft" for the party.

did i mention she also wants to make her own lip gloss...??? we'll see about that!

oh dear...she is getting big!

anyway...we're off to pick up the car from the shop, grab some things at trader joe's and maybe get some more supplies at joann's. i'm hoping for a very productive weekend while chris is away in iceland! sigh...

also...did you notice i moved project of the month over here??? i'm hoping you'll still be inspired and email your photos to me to post in the sets...i jst can't manage 2 blogs right now! alrighty...have a great weekend! see you back here on monday!

change is on the way

well...i'm in need of a new outlook...so keep your eyes peeled for a new blog look. changes in content, intent, and purpose! i'll be reexamining project of the month...it may be a goner, and just a feature here (you'll still get to craft-a-long!)...just really trying to get some new inspiration and focus...

thanks to everyone for the well-wishing, light-sending and prayer-requesting. it's helping in a big way.

i'm hoping the changes will be done and in effect by the end of the week...
stay tuned!

weekly update

so that blog malaise is lingering...

truth is, my mind has been overly occupied with not so creative, more contemplative thoughts that don't lend themselves to blogging, ya know?

so...i thought i'd let you in on the mundane in my life:
1. we did switch totally to gdiapers and i love it. feel good about flushing it away and not piling it up in the landfill...sigh of relief!
2. we got some klean kanteens and a sigg for chris (inspired by rachel and others out there in blogland) i plan on making some kanteen kozies to spruce up the look (stella wishes for a sigg now because they are so cute!)
3. just finished watching season one of curb your enthusiasm. pretty funny. not stellar though.
4. also just watched grizzly man. bizarre and disturbing.
5. happy to find routine these days. i need it to keep my mind from spinning.
6. i'll be posting some photos soon of the apron and tea for 2 set i made for the women's auction at my family's church...happy to say it brought in some good cash thanks to a devoted fan!
7. has anyone ever done sitemeter or the like? you can see who visits your site when and from where and how they found you. interesting at first, freaky after you think about it for too long...but interesting nonetheless.

and here's an idea...maybe y'all should leave a comment saying hi so i can "meet" the people visiting my little blog...that would be fun, wouldn't it??? and i don't think i'm being sarcastic...really...

okie doke. hopefully fall will arrive here soon with crisp cool air and refresh my brain and spirits...needing some rejuvenation these days...so send some light my way, think happy thoughts, pray for some inspiration...

so dramatic, aren't i!!???

thanks for keeping me going girls...i'm still loving the updates on your blogs!!! makes me happy!

unpacking...

well...we've been home from seattle for almost 2 weeks...and while the clothes are all put away (except for chris...whose clothes are now repacked and somewhere in amsterdam), i feel as though we are still mentally unpacking the trip. we loved our time there so stinkin' much...with offers of places to stay if we wanted to move....it gets tempting...but truthfully, i'm not ready for that yet. could yall just move back east????yeah, seattle is a nice city, but its YOU i like, every part of you (mr. rogers...)

ok...and i have been suffering from general blog malaise...i think in part due to no camera!!! annoying!!! i should just do film. no digital. we'll see.

anywhoozle (loren, it's contagious), we're truckin' along...and i hope to back in blog form soon...sorry for being a bit boring...but i'm in good company

alrighty folks...have a good week...maybe i'll getup the gusto to type some more...
xoxo

the diaper dilemma

boy have i been stressing over this for way too long!

i have (since stella was born) wished i could use cloth diapers...and had i taken the plunge then, i'd probably be ok with it. the only trouble is, we live in an apartment with little space for a stinky diaper pail and have to pay to do laundry...so cloth is not cheapest in our scenario.

but it obviously is not just about being cheap.

i cannot handle how many diapers i am sending to the landfill to sit in heaps for the next 500 years. i have used huggies on both kids...until now.

i've been trying out and wanting to use gDiapers. they are flushable, compostable and biodegradable...and about double the cost of disposables of any brand. (seriously...i did the math: huggies $0.22/dipe, seventh generation $0.26/dipe, gdiapers $0.38/liner...plus you have to buy the outer pants one time for about $50 for 4 of them (includes some liners))

so i think i might have to settle on seventh generation they are not biodegradable, but they are a bit more environmentally sound and the price is good....

dangit gDiapers...why are you SOOOOO expensive...????

i just have to be ok with it...but i'm having a hard time...my conscience is torn...frugality vs. "green"...
i gotta reach a compromise here...right???