Day 318 of 365

My daughter uses words to describe herself like, I was a good girl and I worked hard today.

Both are true about her. She is a good girl. She likes to take care of people. She works very hard at her job. She calls her mom every single day (sometimes several times a day).

Both yesterday and today were several phone call days.  Even though she calls bunches, I still look forward to her calls. She calls me every day on her walk to work, calls me during her dinner break, and sometimes calls me after work. I hear about work, how things are coming along in her new apartment, what she's having for dinner, what she's frustrated with her boyfriend about.

Every time, at every call, I tell her the same thing before I get off the phone. I love you. Be a good girl. Stay out of trouble. Work hard. Wear your seat belt. I'm at the point where I feel like if I don't say those things, I'll jinx something.

Lately before she gets off the phone, she's been giving me a list of things she wants me to bring her way. Every day there is something else she wants added to the list. The list is growing quite long. The kitchen stuff she got for Christmas. A clock. Her full length mirror. Garbage can. A family picture. Dish soap. Cleaning supplies. Grocery sack holder.

While I haven't gathered all the other items up yet, I did get her grocery sack holder made. She chose the fabric from several options I sent her on the cell phone. Plain for my tastes, but just what the good, hardworking, seat belt wearing girl ordered.

Day 317 of 365

Compartmentalize.  

Merriam-Webster defines compartmentalize as to separate into isolated compartments or categories. Example: He compartmentalizes his life by keeping his job and his personal life separate.

Yeah, sure.

When I took this job, I thought I could compartmentalize things. When I was at work I'd think about work. When I was home I'd think about home. It hasn't happened yet.

When I'm at work, I think about work. But when I'm at home, I think about work. It's not like I'm not trying to keep my mind off of work - it's that it just isn't happening. A work-issued Blackberry doesn't help things, either. Seeing that phone with unread e-mails - e-mails addressed to me, e-mails that expect answers - makes me want to read them so I can get caught up. If I don't spend my days off reading and responding (and taking the time to find the information requested in the e-mails), when I get back to work I do nothing but catch up on e-mails. And I don't have that time in my work days for that - I have work to do.

Here's the lesson I'm learning about working part-time. ( I suspect part-time hourly wage folks don't have this issue, but I don't know for sure.) Here's what I do know - when someone is a salaried, yet part-time employee, it becomes difficult to determine what kinds of extras that salaried person is required to do on their days off. As a full-time salaried employee, it's a given that after-work hours can/should be spent on work-related activities. As a part-time salaried employee, it's also a given that after-work hours can/should be spent on work-related activities. But how many hours are enough? And how many are too much?

How many hours are too much? It's too much when I'm spending 2-3 hours on every single day I have off working on "work" things. I went into today thinking I wouldn't again get bogged down in work on a day off, but for the umpteenth time it did. Work came first, home came last. The time I had planned to work on the Disaster Auction quilt didn't happen. Sewing a grocery sack holder for my daughter didn't happen. Making a new coupon envelope for myself didn't happen. Work happened. And I've had enough.

I did squeeze out a few minutes to plant my amaryllis from yesterday's Target trip. Looks like it had been doing some growing while on the store's shelf.

Day 316 of 365

Today was a hard day for a picture. I had opportunities I didn't take.

I was at work a little after 7 AM this morning. (Just imagine how rough that one was on my body, especially with it being such a cold morning.) My first picture opportunity happened right before I got to school - proof that it really was a cold morning. The temperature showing on a business not too far from school showed 7 degrees. I had my camera out but there was a school bus behind me so I didn't snap the photo.

Then this afternoon I went to a store I haven't visited in more than a year, ShopKo. I'm glad I picked today to stop by. They had just marked their Christmas clearance down to 90% off. Aisle after aisle of ornaments, wrapping paper, and Christmas goodies. I was tempted to take a picture of all the things they had left, but shoppers were in every single aisle. I was also tempted to take a picture of all the things I bought at 90% off, but my bags were heavy on the chocolates (and I certainly didn't want a picture showing that).

I tried my luck at Target, but there were no Christmas items to be found anywhere. I did find an Amaryllis in a nice, heavy ceramic pot on clearance for $3. I considered taking a picture of it but decided to wait until it's planted. I like the idea of taking pictures as it grows.

I thought about taking pictures of the Chinese food I picked up for dinner, but decided against it. (Again, I didn't want a picture showing how unhealthy I'm eating right now.) I thought about taking a picture of the fortune: When it gets dark enough, you can see the stars. That didn't speak to me, so no picture. I wonder if it means the same thing as what my horoscope read today: Just because there's a wall in front of you doesn't mean that your journey has ended.

I eventually settled on a picture of something that is extremely rare this time of year. As I was sitting in the car, waiting for my husband to get out of a meeting afterschool, I was looking towards the mountains that are usually covered with snow. But thanks to all the storms going around us this winter, the air is hazy and the mountains are bare.

Day 315 of 365

My husband is a big help in the mornings.

He knows how much I struggle with getting out of bed, getting dressed, and getting myself to work. He knows it takes me hours before I can even get my socks on. He knows I hurt so much and my body is so stiff that I can't get a bowl out of the cabinet, can't grab a spoon out of the drawer, and can't reach for the cereal box on the shelf. Standing at the stove cooking any kind of breakfast in the morning is never possible. So he helps me out.

He knows that I'm not able to get out of bed to get a drink of water so he fills a water glass for me every night and puts it on the dresser on my side of the bed. In the mornings he wakes me up when he leaves at 6:30. (By waking up at that time it gives me a better chance of being able to be to work at 9:00. Even though I'm awake, I can't do anything but sit and stretch for quite some time. No dressing, no showering, no putting makeup on - those things happen gradually over a couple hours.)

And every morning when I finally get to the dining room, he has two pieces of cooked bacon waiting for me. A cereal bowl, a spoon, and the box of cereal are sitting on the table. On the counter- a loaf of bread, peanut butter, a paper towel and a knife so I can make my peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

Since he's doing that much for me, the least I can do is make a quilt that will make him look good at the Disaster Auction next month. It still has a ways to go, but it's closer than it was on Monday.

Sew a Fabric Grocery Bag Holder - Day 314 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

Grocery sacks.

I remember when everything was paper. Then it was a choice of paper or plastic. Then it became all plastic. Now there are communities banning plastic bags. But I still use those plastic bags.

On Day 20 I got this bright idea to stop with the plastic bags. I cut up and sewed some old t-shirts to make reusable grocery sacks. Those t-shirt bags didn't last long. Actually, they did last a long time. They sat - unused - in a chair in the den month after month after month. Finally I put them in the donation box and sent them on their way. I guess those plastic sacks aren't going away for us.

So I made a plastic grocery sack holder. My  husband took the wine bottle one for out in the garage (he asked permission first) and now my daughter has requested one in blue for her new apartment. (I'll be snapping some fabric pictures on my cell phone and sending them her way for her approval.)

Today's tutorial features a bright looking-forward-to-spring one.

Now available as a digital PDF download pattern in my Etsy shop with step by step written directions and color photos. Click to find out more!

Looking for something else? Check out some of my other kitchen sewing and crafting projects!

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

Click below for the step-by-step how to tutorial and learn how to make your own homemade plastic grocery bag holder:

Day 313 of 365

I have to fess up. I started a new project even though my unfinished project basket is still overflowing.

The first Saturday of every February our community has a "Disaster Auction". They help families cover costs associated with hospital or large medical bills, funerals, or fire damage to their homes. In 1961 they raised $6,000 and last year the auction raised over $95,000.

For years I've said I would make a quilt for the auction and for years I haven't followed through. With all my donation/charity work this year I decided this absolutely would be the year I'd make one. But then I looked at some of the pictures of the previous years' quilts and I chickened out. Chickened out because I didn't think my work was impressive enough to join the quilts auctioned off. Chickened out because I didn't want my quilt to be the one fetching the least amount of money.

My husband wasn't happy with me backing out again and expressed his disapproval. I was willing to live with that disapproval, but then I saw a pattern that changed my mind. After I redid my cardboard magazine holders on Day 311, I went through all the magazines. Looked at every page of every magazine and came across a quilt that tickled my fancy.

I'm still working on getting the right colors together, but at least it's a start.

Day 312 of 365

Our cat is just darn weird.

It's not that she bawls at weird times of the day and night. It's not that she still comes running every time I use the can opener. (Her cans of food haven't needed a can opener in years.) It's not that she runs in front of my car every time I pull in the driveway. And it's not because she thinks my ironing board is the best way to jump down from the sewing room window.

It's because of the ponytail situation.

When my daughter was younger she always left those rubber-band-y, elastic-y, scrunchy type of ponytail holders around. She left them around and the cat would find them. Find them and play with them. Find them, play with them, and lose them. In the past we've found them under the couch, the refrigerator, and the stove. We thought those days were long gone, but they have started up again.

My daughter comes home ever so often and occasionally she'll take one of those ponytail holders out of her hair and toss it to the cat. The cat absolutely loves it. She particularly likes the black ones and the red ones. She'll toss it with her paw. She'll fetch it. She'll throw it with her mouth. She jump, she'll leap, she'll pounce. She'll hide it under the rug and dig it back out. She'll run into the bedroom, drop it on the bed, and cry for us to play with her. She'll lose it under the chair and bawl for us to get it out. Every morning and every evening it sounds like things being thrown around the house. It's just the cat wrestling around the floor, tables, and furniture with that doggone ponytail holder. Eventually she'll tire out and fall asleep somewhere.

Today's sleeping spot was a small corner of the bed. Today I washed our bedding, all the way to the mattress pad. The cat likes these sheet-changing days because it presents an opportunity to hide in the blankets. Knowing that, as I was waiting for everything to dry, I made sure I piled the linens high enough that she'd keep off of them. Wouldn't you know she found that one small little space that was left open.