Ruby Bridges. . .

This is a picture from a couple of weeks ago, do you know who the woman on the right is?  It's Ruby Bridges, the six year old in the famous Norman Rockwell painting with U.S. Marshalls integrating the elementary schools in the south.  The gorgeous woman on the left is my coworker and friend Ms Shonda Robinson.  Ms. Bridges visited our university a couple of weeks ago for Black History Month, so we went to her lecture.  It was wonderful, and I'm so glad I went, and that I brought my daughter.  I'm not sure she has ever been exposed to how ugly humans can be to each other, and it was eye-opening.  Ms. Bridges' perspective was very interesting to hear.  (On a separate note, please ignore my bra strap in the photo--how gross can I be?)



Mixed Feelings

Today I am feeling a little. . . not sure what exactly I'm feeling.  It looks like the sale of my industrial quilting machine is going to go through, and I have mixed feelings with that.  That machine has been a huge part of my life, and my actual BECOMING MYSELF.  After many years in a marriage where I was not valued, this was something that truly represented my liberation.  I could make a living with this!  I did have value.  Kevin was wrong.  He can just sit there in his wrongness and be wrong. 

 It's taken a long time to get over those other feelings, but I have done it and I feel that it's time to let the machine go do its work for someone else.  But at the same time, it's difficult for me to let go of this tangible representation of my own freedom.  I'm not sure if what I'm saying is over-dramatic or exactly right, but it is how I feel about this situation.  Maybe it's overdramatic and exactly right.  The machine is going to a good home.

This weekend I have a lot to do.  If it's not windy, Kaleigh and I will mix up our dirt for the raised beds and get it set up for planting.  Thrilling!  (I'm not being sarcastic here)  I may go ahead and plant the lettuce and get a few other plants, I think we are way past any very cold weather this year.  I also need to go into work and organize my office, which has become disastrous.  I have no storage space in my classroom, so everything I need has to be displayed or in my tiny office, and I don't have time during the day to get in there and straighten things up, so everything gets piled on my desk until I can't take it anymore.  So basically I can't take it any more.  I also need to go to the dollar store to get some bins, and I want to work on my quilting project for my school's carnival and auction.  Grocery shopping and laundry will round out the festivities. 

I also think I will do some cooking this weekend.  While I'm not a great cook, and I don't LOVE to cook like my sister does, I like to cook when I have time and feel like it.  Lucky for me, Kaleigh is growing up to be a very adventurous cook.

My New Composting Bin--or--Am I Amazing or What?!

Very excited today!  It's my big girl's twenty-second birthday, so I've been thinking about where I was 22 years ago today. . . let me paint a picture for you.  I was in a military hospital in Anniston, Alabama, where I was the first patient to deliver in the recently reopened maternity wing of the tiny hospital, so I was the only one there.  I had been in the hospital for about a week, and it was President's Day.  I was trying to nap, but SOMETHING kept waking me up, making me restless.  This was not my first time around the block so you'd think I'd recognize what was going on, but I didn't.  At around 2:30 I realized I was in labor, and the nurse unwisely said to me,  "You girls always go into labor while I'm on duty so I don't get to be there when the baby's born!"  I asked her when she got off work, and she said 11:00 p.m., so I said, "If you think this baby won't be born by then, I'll kick your ass right now."  (I'm paraphrasing.)   Anyway, my beautiful little blond bundle was born at 8:15, and I very SMUGLY made eye contact with that nurse.  I had to win that one.  I might be the tiniest bit competitive.

Also, I got  a lot accomplished today.  Kaleigh and I got the raised beds down where we want them with landscape fabric under them.  We couldn't mix the soil because it was too windy today, so maybe we'll do that tomorrow when I get home from work.  Also, I found all the canning supplies I could ever want at Ace Hardware, of all places!  I got some jars and other stuff.  I also got a bag of compost for $1.99, which is kind of incredible.  It's not as easy as it sounds to find different brands of compost, so when I see them, I get them.  Then...miracle of miracles...I noticed a huge pile of pallets outside, which I have been looking for to build a real composting bin.  I have been dabbling with a half-assed pile of composting materials beside the shed, and looking longingly at any REAL compost bins that I see.  So I asked about the pallets, and Liz (the Ace Hardware person) told me that they sell them for a dollar.  A DOLLAR!!  I've been looking high and low for them, and was about to buy some wood and build a few myself, but I couldn't do that for a dollar!  So I got three small ones, and this afternoon, I built myself a real, live, honest to goodness compost bin.  I feel so professional.  That's not the right word, maybe. . . like a GROWN UP GARDENER!   Pictures will come as soon as I can get the front of it finished--I still think I need to move it a few feet to the left, but I was too excited to wait to write about it. 

All that's left is to buy some plants, and I'm really looking forward to doing that.  I have my plan all ready, I'm just trying to make sure that we won't have any more very cold weather. 

Kaleigh is spending the night with a friend, so I'm off to take an hour-long bath.  Thanks Casey for telling me that baths are only therepeutic if they are over an hour long.  Clean sheets are on the bed and whispering my name.  While I'm in the bathtub I may look at gardening catalogs and dream about all the vegetables I'm going to grow. 

What Nourishes Me. . . and Recipes.

I read in a book today that every person should keep notes about what inspires of nourishes you, and it's been popping back into my mind every little while, so I thought I would start one of those lists:

1.  PEDICURES!!
2.  Reading an engrossing book that makes me think.
3.  Lunch with a friend.
4.  A smiling baby with a new tooth.  (Just one.)
5.  The "Amie-ness" of my life--I'm enjoying it more every day.

Good talk.

It has been brought to my attention that I forgot to post the recipes for the super-hippie homemade cleaning products.  So here goes. 

Homemade Detergent

1 bar pure soap (Fels Naptha, Zote, etc.)
1 C. Washing soda (not baking soda)
1/2 C. borax
Medium sized container with lid

Grate soap (do not use for food after this) and place into container.  Add washing soda and borax.  Mix well.  Use 1 Tbsp. per load or  Tbsp. per load for heavily soiled clothing.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

2 C. Borax
2 C. Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 C. Lemi shine
1 C. Kosher salt

(I found all these items in my super Wal-Mart)  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until mixed.  The recipe I found suggests running an empty dishwasher cycle with this solution to make sure your dishwasher is clean.  Use 1 tsp. of detergent per load of dishes.  LIke I said--it works wonderfully!

Homemade Febreeze

2 C. Warm Water
1/4 C. Liquid Fabric Softener
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix these three ingredients together in a spray bottle, shake well, and spray.

Also, we have baby worms in my classroom!  Not sure why this is so exciting, but it is.  I read in my extensive literature about vermicomposting (composting with worms) that they only reproduce when they are comfortable, so I'm feeling like a good hostess. 

Going All Hippie On Your Asses. . .

Lovely day so far.  It's 1:00 p.m., and I've been puttering around my house being totally domestic today.  I have dinner cooking in the crock pot, I've been using recipes that I found on Pinterest to make stuff (get to that in a minute), and I sent my twosome (Kaleigh and her boyfriend Victor) out to build my planter boxes.  I was really looking forward to building those myself, but those two irritate the hell out of me sitting in my living room, gazing into each other's eyes--BARF!   So I put them to work. 

How cute are they?  All proud of their work.  Of course, now we need to go to Lowe's to replace the drill bits they have broken, but it's a small price to pay.  Hopefully I'm cultivating some hippie-ness in them too.  Bonus.

I made some finger paints this morning.  I like to try out recipes before I use them in my classroom so I can be sure how they will turn out.  The picture isn't perfect, but I guess you can see how pretty the colors are.  I was thinking that this would be a great gift for a child's birthday too.  They would be prettier in baby food jars, but I didn't have any so I used what I had on hand.  I will ask around on Monday for some jars. 

One other thing I made is dishwasher detergent.  I HATE the storebought stuff, my dishes never seem clean, and are very spotty.  Well after using this stuff I will never go back and SCORE---it's cheaper----WOOO-HOOO!!   I'm sure it's environmentally friendlier too.

I made homemade Febreeze--I go through this stuff like crazy because I like everything to always smell fresh, especially in my classroom so when parents and children come in, it's really pleasant.  I made some of that, and I'm pretty pleased with it as well.  Next will be laundry detergent.  As some of you may know, I have a little "THING" about laundry detergent.  I get nervous if I have less than several bottles or boxes, and I love to stock pile the stuff.  Let's don't delve into that too deeply--we all have our "stuff".  Mine happens to be laundry detergent and fresh sheets.  Enough said. 



Thank Goodness for a Wonderful Friend and Evening!

I have really had a rough week.  So I was thrilled when a friend and I made plans to get together tonight and have pizza and just chat.  We had a wonderful time--thanks Mary Beth and Taylor!-- and I'm home now, it's raining on my roof, my baby is in bed after some kind of an allergy bout with MB's cat, and I'm just feeling kind of content.  Some wine and my flannel sheets would probably make this evening perfect.  Be right back. . . . (with wine). . . .

I have become COMPLETELY addicted to Pinterest--I'm convinced that if I'm not on there a lot I will miss something I MUST know. 

Just so you know, I'm about to go all hippie on your asses for a minute.  In my never-ending quest for simplicity and organization, I've been trying to streamline my work around here, as well as cut back on chemicals used for cleaning, and I've found a lot of homemade recipes for stuff like clothes detergent (which I have made before), and dishwashing detergent (which I haven't).  Even recipes for homemade fabric softener, which I love the idea of doing.  As I try them out, I will report back.  

As I said earlier in the week, my plan for the weekend is to do as little as possible.  I will do laundry, which I enjoy, and build my planter boxes, make my planting mix, and cook, but little else.  I love to putter around my little house.  I will add pictures when I get the boxes done as I expect them to be spectacular.  Maybe a little of an overstatement. 

My Art Wall

This is the art wall in my classroom, which I adore.  Let me just tell you, I have the most amazing little artists in my class this year.  Children's art is all about the process and not the product--they almost don't even care about the product--but I always (stupidly) put out art supplies each day and in my mind, (or should I say the control freak in me) pictures how the art is going to come out.  But they always surprise me.