Luna's Baublebilities

Remember when I wrote this waaaay back last year?

"I hate always failing at my New Year's Resolutions. Often I pretend not to make any but end up keeping a secret mental list of untrackable and therefore unattainable goals. This year will be different. I have just a few main goals and I'll be blogging about them so hopefully I'll be able to keep track of my progress and actually succeed at something."

HA! 














Take care of my body - Fail
Manage all aspect of my business without allowing it to overtake my life - Fail
Post regularly about my shops and my creative endeavors - Fail.



I'm going to get back on the horse and try these again in 2010.  Maybe I'll get it right this time - or at least earn a C.  A C would be better than an F.

I can at least post these photos of my most recently finished (?) crazy quilt block.  I am particularly proud of the grape clusters.  Those were fun.  You can see this block in person right now at the SLC Arts Council's Fiber Arts Showcase exhibit at 51 Market Street Postdam.  It's not for sale, though.  Crazy Quilting is strictly a Sunday Sanity activity for me right now.

Speaking of grades and goals.  Molly is going back to school.  I am waiting for the guidance counselor to call back this morning.  I'm so conflicted.  I have really been enjoying putting together her curriculum but it is obvious that she is not working hard enough. We have reached the mother-daughter stage where I cannot push her any further without unleashing the full force of my fury some days and that's not a happy place for either of us to be. 

She also wants to participate in the drama program - apparently the district has hired a top-notch music educator who is doing really wonderful things with the kids.  Have I mentioned that Molly has an incredible voice?  I have a fairly sweet little voice that blends well in the choir (when I'm not croaking sick) and I am a "Twinkle,Ttwinkle Little Star" virtuoso, it having been the lullaby of choice for the last 15 years or so but I've never had the range, power or confidence that MB is developing.  I think she may be taking after her Uncle Jonathan and she should get more vocal training than I can provide.  And have you seen her dramatic recitation of the Highwayman?  Holey cow.  Where did she come from anyway? 

She also talks abut Doctors Without Borders a lot lately.   It is an agency she would like to work with.   BOCES has a nursing program for juniors and seniors that would give her education and experience in health care early on (read - before obtaining enormous college debt) so she could decide whether or not medicine is a field she can really manage. 

I worry about social drama.  So Much.  I worry a lot about Math.  And homework.  I worry about how on earth she will catch the bus every morning.  (I fear that it will involve me getting up at 5 and pelting her with ice cubes and threats until she is dressed and out the door.  I'll probably have a stroke).  I worry that my unbelievably enjoyable teenager will turn into a miserable mean girl who hates her mother by imperceptible degrees.  I worry that she will hate the whole High School Social box.  Neither Bry nor I fit comfortably into the expected mold back when we were in school and I'm sure MB won't fit either.  (Strangely, I don't worry about that with Maxx.  He seems to be creating his own mold already, becoming the class clown in Kindergarten.)

Maybe Molly will prove to be tougher than I ever was.  Maybe staying home and studying in her own way and talking about what sort of person she wants to become has given her more courage than my parents were able to give to me.  Maybe she will make friends who help her learn to laugh at herself and the stresses in her life.   (Thank you John and Liesl and Kim and Lee and Laurie and Angie and Bill and the list is really too long when I sit and think about it )  Maybe she'll finally learn that Math won't kill her.  Who knows.  She lookslike a survivor to me - see how she rocks this retro '80's hair thing?










. . . .

Well, it's officially over. Bry pulled out of the driveway almost 20 minutes ago to head to work, Maxx goes to Kindergarten Thursday and Molly will be starting in on her homeschool schedule Friday.

It is very strange having everyone start back to school before Labor Day. We all feel cheated - especially since Christmas break this year will be a scant week and a half and there is no indication that Spring break will be longer or that regents week will be sooner in June. Somehow the state or the local districts have managed to squeeze another full week into the school year here but there has been no information about a corresponding bump in teacher salaries. Maybe they think that they throw in a bunch of half week extras, the teachers won't be able to do the math and figure out that they are overworking their contracts?

Last night I spent some time contemplating my schedule and how I'm going to get everything done. I'm just not very prodctive on the best of days but I have really got to learn how to be. I hit 40 this winter and I've got to learn how to care for my body a little better. I need it to last at least another 40 or 50 years! Molly's homschool curriculuum this year is her most rigorous yet and while half of it will be done online, I will still have a serious time comitment reviewing History and ELA work. With Maxx in full day kindergarten, I will have more time for exercise, homeschool and studio work and I intend to bring in some serious cash this year to supplement Bryan's income. I'm just not sure how much I can really get done. What I really like to do is slack off most days, exploring nifty things online like this Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. I mean - how cool is that!? I want to make one.

Plus we have to get the new house ready to move into. We got our commitment leter from the bank three weeks ago (still no estimated closing date) and we have begun work on the Beorningstead, hoping and praying that we can move in before truly cold weather arives. We've already discovered some small unexpected and unbudgeted surprises over there so my studio will have to take up that slack. We are still very excited about it, though - my studio is going to be SO BIG! Expect a new blog about reniovating the Beorningstead soon, moderated by Molly, Bry and me.

Now - I'm off to see about dyeing some new tee shirts & scarves, creating a silk screen design for my new Yudu machine, photographing and uploading new filigree and beads to my Etsy and Art Fire stores, packaging orders from last week, cleaning the house, ordering MB's AP Bio Class, playing with Maxx, getting some exercise . . . O.K. on second thought, just wake me up around dinner time.

I'm working up to posting about our favorite Christmas traditions - including a recipe for our favorite Christmas Eve Clam Chowder - but i don't have time today. Suffice it to say that our family loves to play games - and we particularly love word games. One of my favorite holiday memories is that of a killer round of The Minister's Cat with my Brother-in-Law. He and I beat everyone else but we couldn't beat each other.

That was years ago before motherhood co-opted most of my vocabulary synapses. I now have a hundred ways of saying "Stop that right now!" but it takes me longer to think of interesting adjectives to apply to said minister's feline.

Consternation is more my speed. This is a slow game - played over several days.

One player takes the Boggle game out and spells a word, preferably a very long word, and places it in the game board. The more convoluted the layout of the word, the better. And make sure that the letters face in different directions or you'll give yourself away before the game even starts. (The word in the photo above is consternation.)

The game board is left in a central location - dining room table is good, or next to the hearth, with a pad of paper. Other family members look at the board throughout the day and write down the words they find within the board. The game is won when someone finds the original word. The winner gets to put their own long winded word in and the game starts over. There is no timer, no rush and makes good use of time huddled near the fireplace or while chewing Peanut Butter and Jelly. It is a great vocabulary builder for older homeschoolers and a good spelling exercise. It is like a traditional word find but more social and competitive.