Life and times of a parent - Part 1

So today my friend said, "You guys should start a parenting blog."  I laughed, never thinking of the fact that I already have a blog, just not specific to parenting...

I laughed because I often feel like I am just a smidge of mustard short of a perfect backyard burger, or maybe an ounce shy of just enough mouthwash to really chase away bad breath... I guess you could say that I often feel like I'm just not quite good enough.  THAT'S why I laughed... who on Earth would want to hear my two-cents on parenting?

Well, SHE did.  So then I got to thinking... If I think someone will want to hear my rantings and wanderings and ravings and wonderings of life and all that is creativity... maybe, just maybe, someone would want to hear about my parenting.

The story that prompted all this self-evaluation (and self-criticism) was from a few days ago.  My girl is now thirteen.  She is just old enough to start thinking on her own (even if she does still need to be told WAKE UP, GET UP, WASH UP, CLEAN UP, STRAIGHTEN UP... sorry, I digress...) and for whatever reason, she asked me this...

"How do you KNOW there really is God?  I mean, I believe and all, but how do you KNOW?" 

You know the Holy Spirit is alive and well when someone like me can rattle off something so simple yet it worked beautifully... "You don't question if there really is wind even when you can't see it moving the trees, right?"

That seemed to answer that, but she had a one, two punch up her sleeve... "Okay, but what about the Holy Spirit?  What is THAT all about and how do you KNOW there really is such a thing?"

Oh my word.  I am ready for "the birds and the bees".  I am ready for "how to choose a college".  I am ready for most things.  Thankfully, yet again, the Holy Spirit said, "I'll take this one."

"You know that gut feeling when you did something wrong?  THAT'S the Holy Spirit."

My girl volleyed, "Everyone knows when they do something wrong, Mom.  That's not the Holy Spirit."

I just let it roll.  "Honey, we are taught right from wrong and most do know when they do something wrong.  I'm not talking about when you know in your head you are doing something wrong.  I'm talking about that pit in your stomach, the nauseating feeling when you are getting ready to do something you know is wrong and your gut screams, 'DON'T DO IT!'  THAT is the Holy Spirit looking out for you, trying to guide you, loving you enough to say no."

She liked that answer.  I'm confident the facebook "like" button was pressed over that answer.

See, I am quite certain, 99.9% positive that it wasn't me that explained it in that way.  Why am I so certain?  Because just last week at Bible study I, me, not the Holy Spirit, described "said Holy Spirit" as the Jiminy Cricket that says, "Oh you really ought not do that!"  Yep, that's how I can tell when I let Jesus take the wheel... Because Disney characters aren't driving the bus.

And all God's people said, "Amen."

Bueller...? Bueller...? ...Bueller...???

Well hello all you wonderful crafty, scrappy, creatin', artsy people!!!  I know, I KNOW!  WAY too long since I've blogged.  It's been a bumpy ride and I think there might have been a turn or two that I took a wee bit too fast, fish-tailed some, recovered, then might have even ran it square off the flocking road once or twice!  

BUT I AM BACK, BUCKLED UP AND READY TO BRING IT!  What?  I'm sorry, what's that?  Uh, you are asking "what exactly" am I "bringing"?  Umm, yeaah, ah, hmmm, yerrr, weeeeeelllll... minor detail. 


NEXT QUESTION.

So, since I blogged last, The Merc was unceremoniously... closed.  I was totally bummed.  Enjoyed it immensely, but I swore to my fab hubby that if it didn't glorify God and it didn't benefit the fam that I would not drag it out.  Thus, one quick load into the back of the car and the pickup and DONE.  Then what?

Prayer, that's what.  Okay, that and a lot of sniveling.  But mostly prayer.

And then the most amazing thing happened.  Someone anonymously scholarshiped me to go to women's retreat... where one night I went to sit down with my roomies but the table was full.  "No worries!" and off I go to find a place to sit, eat and make some new friends.  One of THOSE new friends (God Bless You!) ♪♫listeeennnnned♪♫ when I declared "oh, and have I mentioned I'm certain that as crazy as it sounds, God is going to put THE! PERFECT part-time job in my life even though those are few and far between especially in this economy..." 

Fast-forward a couple weeks and I'm in a mom's group at church (it was a Wednesday) where a guest speaker was talking about a ministry she runs for teen moms.  The next day... seriously, the VERY... NEXT... DAY... I get a text from the wonderful lady that (and right here you need to hear Buddy the Elf "I'm in a store and I'm ♪♫SIIIINNNNGGGGIIINNNNGGG♪♫")... the wonderful lady that...

♪♫LISTEEEEENNNNNED♪♫

to me at the table of all my new friends at the women's retreat.  She asked me if I knew Microsoft Office.  I'm thinking, "Wow, she thinks I know stuff that could help her?  Cool!" 

Oh no.  No no NO!  She follows the text with a call... a call that has changed MY LIFE, MY FAMILY'S LIFE AND THE LIFE OF ALL MY FRIENDS WHO NOW HEAR ALL ABOUT MY GLORIOUS DAYS AT... MY JOB!  The gal that spoke at my mom's group went full-time on that ministry and they hired me for her part-time responsibilities in the front office where my new friend also leases an office...

at Fresno/Madera Youth for Christ!

It is an amazing place to work with such a vision to reach kids and let them know that God loves them!

So, with that said, I will continue to blog, continue to create and continue to love my job... so PLEASE continue to check in here on the Homemaker's Mercantile now that I'm back from my hiatus!

And all God's people said, "Amen!"

planning and plotting a road trip 101

Good morning my fellow homemakers! 

Well, I am on the road once again!  My scrap friends and I are heading to PARADISE, CA for a fantastic crop at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique! 

I have been hearing a MAJOR BUZZ about this scrapper haven for quite some time now in my circle o' friends and lemme just say... I SIMPLY CAN NOT WAIT TO GET THERE!  Now that you are totally jealous, check out this web link!
Paradise Scrapbook Boutique

So, now I am on a countdown of 27 hours before blazing off into the mid-day sunshine tomorrow, with our first stop in COLFAX, CALIFORNIA! 

Wait, what?  Yes, in my travels, I take the LONG route.  No, that's not true.  :)  I am actually taking MamaMia along for part of the ride up to "the designated drop spot" of Colfax so that she can be foot-loose-and-fancy-free with her sister up in northern Nevada for over TWO WEEKS!  Look at MamaMia go!

The Hubster and The Girl will be flying solo for the weekend and I bet they are both Praising Jesus that there will be some silence in The Homestead this weekend!  Can I get an "Amen, Sista"?

And then Scrapbook Que Sera Sera, who will be my WingWoman for the weekend, and The Homemaker will head over to Britt's (aka The Niecie) Paisley Lane Design Studio for some pre-scrap PARTYING!  Aw, don't get your knickers in a knot... it's all innocent fun.  The Homemaker has a reputation to protect here!  By the way... The Niecie has her own blog THAT IS ABSOLUTELY AHHH-MAAA-ZINGGGG!

Britt's Blog

In the meantime, I am answering questions like I am in the hot seat at The Inquisition!  MamaMia is on a roll with her list upon list to be organized!  Whew!  She hit me with Question Number 1 whilst I was mid sip of my first Mug O' Life and it wasn't even 7a.m. yet!  But she is excited and really rip roaring ready t' go and I am excited for her excitement!

So, for now... I'm off to get appointments and errands done.  Heavenly Father, I pray that this day brings much excitement and much glory to You.  I pray that this trip breathes new twinkle into the life of my mom.  I pray my daughter has a good day wearing her "out of her box" outfit to school and that my husband is safe at work.  I pray all in Your Glorious Son's Name.
And all God's children said, Amen.

yesterday, in a nutshell...

So, with all the excitement and family appointments and grocery shopping and quality time and homework and phone calls and prepping for today and prayers and finally falling asleep... I NEVER POSTED MY END OF THE DAY POST YESTERDAY!

A scrappers dream was my afternoon yesterday.  I finally completed a layout I had in my brain for several years! 

Eating and scrapping and chatting... not a bad day!  The child came home and sat at the table with us while she worked on her homework.  What a blessing.

And to top all, I was able to finish a trash2treasure project... a bulletin board for our Mom2Mom ministry! 

And it made its debut this morning... and was already receiving posts from the the ladies before we finished our group time today!  That is recycling at it's finest, I think. 

I plan to tackle my girl's Halloween costume all from scratch this year... she will be the Mad Hatter!  If I can get my hands on a webcam, I may even video some of its creative steps!!! 

In the meantime, the world moves ahead at light speed.  I pray that my girl has had a good day at school and greets me with at least a half-smile if not FULL BLOWN ENTHUSIASM.

A Homemaker can dream, you know!

rounding out the morning...

Well, The Homemaker now has a plan for the day!  LOOK. AT. ME. GO!

Scrapping the late morning away, working on projects long left undone.  Today's efforts will be concentrated on a Tinkerbell layout I want to do for our family Disney scrap album!  I've found I am partial to painting my linen albums myself to personalize.  (Yes, that is a service Homemaker's Mercantile offers!)  Here is the one I am adding pages to today.

It is a 12x12 album, so no small Mickey for us!

As for the rest of the day... well, I'll keep you posted.  Get it?  POSTED?  I'll post another blog!  Sorry, lame humor.  ;)

a day in the life...

Let there be light!  Okay, so the little lamp is a little damaged.  But it WORKS!  And now my workspace is LIT UP!  HELLO!

Today, as I sit here in the Scrapuccino Room I know of several lists throughout the house and garage of things to do.  The one in front of me has 4.5 crossed off, 1 was actually a duplicate and the other two require either a) another persons participation or b) a trip to a store that is not in the neighborhood.  Welp, those 2 things probably aren't getting done again today.  I started another list just before I took the girl to school... that was 49 minutes ago and I've already forgotten what is on it and it is sitting on the kitchen counter.  WAIT!  I need coffee!  I'll go get the coffee AND the list... be right back!

Yum!  Okay, I'm back and I remembered the list.  It's on a Disneyland note pad, in case you were curious.  So this list says: "sand in bucket, wood in shed, 2 bins to sort and 2 little boxes".  Okay, I can't lift the rubbermaid bin that the sand is currently in so I will have to wait to dump it into the enamelware bucket.  I s'pose I could go round up all the stray pieces of wood in the garage that I asked my hubby to gather and put it in it's place for him... Naaah, I'll wait on that.  2 bins to sort... well, that requires Hubby because they are on the top shelf in the garage and are too heavy to lift.  2 little bins!  I could do that, but alas, those are Hubby's bins and he would NOT be happy with me if I sorted and got rid of *his* stuff.  So, that has to wait.

While typing this, I toggled over to an email I just remembered I needed to send.  And I need to be mindful of the time... A shower is in order before my friends come over to scrap today.  That will be fun!  And I can finish that last tiny load of reds that need to be washed.  I had planned to do it last night, but after checking online grades and seeing an F for a quiz from last Friday I basically felt all the energy just leave my body as if Scotty had beamed me up and left all my motivation behind.  And yet, sleep eluded me until after MIDNIGHT.  I actually got up and showered in hopes that it would trigger my body into thinking (wait, what the heck? my font just shrank for no apparent reason while typing this! it feels like an odd computerized scene out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!  bring on the Oompa Loompas!) that it was morning and thus I'd naturally want to crawl back in bed... IT WORKED!  Well, that and turning the a/c down so that an egg, if left out on the counter all night, didn't end up soft boiled in this late summer/early fall TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT WAVE.

And now I just found myself toggling over to post to my friends on FB!  Wow.  Multitasking has taken on a new meaning.  Last night, however, I did manage to set up all of my mom's bills for online banking!  MAJOR THRILL for me!  Nothing chaps my Lubriderm'd hide more than spending money on POSTAGE STAMPS!  Well, that's not true.  Spending on gas instead of using a stamp - yes, I did that just based on principle - yes, that did chap my Lubriderm'd hide more.

So, with all that said, I need to go install a face, download a better attitude and SMILE LIKE I MEAN IT!  God is watching and I will call upon Him to lift my spirits to meet His needs today.  I'll check back in later and let you all know how the plan for the day is shaping up... and figure out why my computer is suffering Oompa Loompa font disease.

For now... CHEERS!

summer party and blog therapy

When I say it's a summer party, I mean it both literally and figuratively! (Keep reading and you'll find my $70 therapy session below.)

We here in The Homemaker's homestead have been on the move the majority of the summer. I was thinking the other day (no comments about this statement, just step away from the obvious door I just opened) and realized that our family has never been OOT (out of town, for you acronym-challenged) so much in a summer/in a year/in our lives... EVER! Honestly, we have had a summer that has been filled with so much that for the first time I can say we all will kick off the new school year with a renewed sense of appreciation for BEING HOME.

With that said, LET'S HAVE A PARTY! Let's everyone host a summer party - near and far - so that we can say we partied together!

Now that the Scrapuccino Room is in order, with a place for everything and everything in its' place, I was able to start creating again. The artist in me really took over - yes, I said it, THE ARTIST - and I created a set of banners that I'm selling over at my facebook store. I'll be taking custom orders, too, for names (yes, they are quality for home decor), "baby", "welcome home", "home", "happy birthday", etc.

Homemaker's Mercantile facebook store

I have turned and turned and turned around to try to find my voice here at my blog. It's funny - I feed off of the reactions of my friends and without them in front of me, I sturggle - oops, struggle. Well, no, sturggle really is a good word! Word. I am so random that I see myself run out of stuff to say without conversation going on with me, around me. And then God helps me out with some distraction... The phone just rang. As I walked back to the computer with my warmed coffee cup in hand I passed by the front window (oh so sorry to the neighbors for the "vision of loveliness") and see my beautiful fountain that brings us such calm. When I redecorated the house a couple months back I went with a denim blue and sandy tan color scheme with distressed white and chocolate brown accents and paired down the decades and generations of nic-nacs to foster a sense of beach cottage calm, with an emphasis of CALM. As I hit the Scrapuccino Room doorway, the voice of my girl saying "our house is so boring now, so sterile" rings through my head and my heart hurts.

I've struggled with family hoarding issues my entire life. Just within the last year I overheard my mom say to her sister that I am not sentimental because I don't save mementos. Dude, I'm a scrapbooker for Jiminy Cricket's sake! NOT SENTIMENTAL? I think she could have taken a dull, rusty wood lathe and ran it across my bare elbow and it would have been less painful. (is that a visual or what?) I think my soul actually shrank a smidge after hearing her say those words. When we lived in New York we had a full, partially-finished basement. It was about 600 square feet. It had a maze, like a Habitrail (hamster home), through the entire space of Rubbermaid bins stacked 5-6 bins high all through the area. I am not exaggerating when I say that every single wall in the entire home was COVERED in pictures, collectibles, antiques, plaques, tractor seats, step ladders, BB guns, straw hats... you are seeing this in your mind's eye now, aren't you? Then when we moved back to CA the collections FOLLOWED US and thus, every wall in the house began, right outta the gates, COVERED - including my mom's collection of 9 (paired down from 11 by attrition) indoor cats. We bought a 4 bedroom home so the cats would have their own. The cats are truly another blog by themselves. I'll just get back to the "collectibles" and my lack of sentiment. We had 30-40 bins of JUST CHRISTMAS decorations and several for each other holiday in the year. Organized? YES. We were labeled and listed, like-items gathered... and yet I was taught to continue to buy. The last 3 years have found me searching and sifting and stressing over all the STUFF we had (very important word, had) that was going to hay in a handbasket, wrapped neatly in recycled tissue paper from every gift bag we'd ever received, in bin after bin after bin. It was ludicrous. So I started sorting. Which led to mutiny in my home. But little by little, piece by piece, I have photographed and scanned item by item that truly was memorable. Each memory flooding my heart but knowing that someone will appreciate this treasure and give it life again outside of the Rubbermaid existence it had been living.

Slowly I have found that I have been teaching my girl the same thing I had been taught - treasure things. I want to teach my girl to treasure moments. We have so few.

Yes, there are 2,366,820,000 seconds in a 75 year old life.

How many of them are MOMENTS?

I don't want my girl's view of life's MOMENTS impeded by life's THINGS. I suppose I'm just trying to rationalize that the "sterile" home now will mean a future of LIVING LIFE MOMENTS in her future.

That's what I hope, no, that's what I'm praying for from now on.  And all God's children - and a Homemaker, too - said Amen.