When I Grow Up...

I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'd like to stay home, have a garden, learn to really sew, clip coupons, blah, blah, blah. That is not my reality. Right now I'm trying to make the little decisions: Do we move to Virginia or stay in Chicago?

My sister lives in VA. I loved it there the one time we visited. My husband loved it. The boys want to live near their cousins. It's a big decision. I hoping for a sign from God....like a big booming voice yelling, "Pack it up and get on with it, Girl!" Right now I'm just looking at jobs and houses to rent. I guess if I find the right thing, I'll know.

An Unplanned Stay-cation

I was laid off yesterday. It was unpleasant. You can say that it was just as unpleasant for the messenger, but really, no it wasn't. I'm the one that had to call home to tell my stay-at-home-dad husband that I'm now going to stay home, too. So, like all good recently laid off people, I got drunk. It was fun. I spent the time with two friends who got laid off with me. Now, a full day later, I'm trying to decide what I want to do with my life.

My kids are in school. What the heck am I supposed to do all day? Yeah, I can fill a week or so with cleaning, purging, down-sizing, etc., but what then? I know a lot of women who are happy at home. I could be, too, with the right trust fund. I can kill some time with the crafts I'm always saying I'll do; but let's be realistic, if I really wanted to do them BL (before lay-off) I would have made the time. I think I may just like the idea of doing projects.

This brings me to revised purpose of my blog. What is Suzanne going to do? How long will she last before she cracks? What will she do to fill her time?

Follow me and see.

Leprechaun Trap

So I'm not a very consistent poster. I'll get over it. My latest project was completed with the 'help' of my 7-year-old. He was asked to make or draw a leprechaun trap for school. Being the over-achiever I am, I mean, he is, we decided to build a trap. Here is that story.

Here is our sad little shoe box. Since he didn't bring me a pair of shoes as perfect as advertised, he volunteered for our project to redeem himself.














G and I used Mod Podge. After reading all about it on various blogs, I decided this was the perfect time to try it. Mod Podge, G and I should never be allowed in the same room again. We were all covered - worse than the box. We covered the box with green and purple tissue with a maze design on it. (You can't see the design very well in the pictures.) Then we added some cardstock four-leaf clovers and a front panel (where we ran out of tissue).

We added a pot of gold (filled with glass marbles) and a rainbow to entice the leprechaun.

When he reaches for the pot of gold, the leprechaun will knock over the straw and be trapped in the box.

I'm glad it's going to school. I want G's teacher to have to explain why he couldn't catch a leprechaun. He's very excited about having one as his friend.


Suz

Pictures - How hard can they be?

I've never posted pictures to a blog, so I will be attempting it now. Here are the projects I was working on this weekend. Please note that we did get clips for the ferret hammock...at Home Depot.

Here is my sewing machine cover I made from One Yard Wonders



I love this fabric. How girly can it get?


Here is the hammock I made for our business (a group of ferrets). I don't have a before picture, just the picture of content animals.


Here is a close up of our babies.


Next up:
Another hammock
Aprons for Gabe and me (He has recently expressed interest in being a chef only until he grows up at which point he wants to be a police officer. Hopefully he'll grow out of that...Sorry dad.)
Painting the boys bunk beds (I've had the paint for a month now.)

I'll let you know how everything turns out!

Suz

Stereotypes

I don't particularly like stereotypes so I try not to be one. I mean, there is the big girl eating a bag of M&Ms with a diet Pepsi. But other than that, no stereotypes.
What is this leading to? My trip to Lowe's today.
I was the girl in the hardware store. I was looking for a double-sided clip to hang a hammock for my ferrets. (More on that later.) I made it to the hardware department where I got sidetracked by washers. Yes, small silver washers. I would have been fine but there was a shiny one in the bin, so I was looking for mare shiny ones. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what galvanized means. Not shiny by the general looks of things. Anyway, I was thinking about making a ribbon and washer necklace. Here I am looking for more shiny washers discussing the merits of spray painting the dull ones....with myself...out loud. I got caught. Apparently, I looked lost. A nice little old hardware man approaches me. I decide to pretend I wasn't talking to myself and ask him where I can find double-sided clips. Blank stare. Thus begins our conversation:

Me: You know. The ones with a clip on each end that opens and closes.
Man: Uh no.
Me: They have a little thingy you can pull down to open them. A spring thingy.
Man: (nothing)
Me: Ummmm. I'm a girl in a hardware store. (He nodded at this.) I don't know what they're called. They clip and open and close.
Man: (pulling out his key chain) Like the cousin to this?
Me: Exactly. With one on both ends.

At this point I have a feeling that he knew all along and was trying to make me sweat. He showed me where they were. Then proceeded to describe all the sizes while I looked on dumbfounded. When I said I wasn't sure what size, he seemed very confused.

Me: It's for a craft, not anything really important.
Man: Uh-huh.
Me: I mean, they're for a hammock for my ferrets. I need to hang it up in their cage.
Man: Huh.

And he began to explain every conceivable combination of hooks and hangers I could ever possible use. For five minutes. Looking at me expectantly. How could I make a decision now? There were now too many choices. And frankly, they were more expensive than at Menards. He finally left me to my own devices. I got too confused and left. And, yes, I did dodge him as I left the store without buying anything. What was I going to say? "Sorry. I can't buy anything. You gave me too many choices and the choices are more expensive than your competitor"?
Now the hammock is still sitting on my sewing table, and I need to go to Menards where I will pretend to know what I'm doing to avoid awkward "girl in the hardware store" situations.
Meanwhile, I'll figure out how to post pictures to my new blog and show you the hammock...and the sewing machine cover I made.