Just Call Me Mother of the Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas; actually, I hope everone has a wonderful EVERYDAY! I know this concept goes around about Christmas just being another day and we put too much pressure (especially) on ourselves to make it P E R F E C T!!

Not gonna happen!!

But, still, there's so much I want to do, and there are soooo many good ideas out there of things to try to do. Things to make, things to bake, cards to write and people to see; (un)fortunately they ALL tend to get geared to be a MUST for Christmas Day or to the few days that surround it.

Well here's the story of one of the self imposed pressures---also read, leave me alone, I'm having fun!

First: choose two fabulous, coordinated fabrics, with at least one holding some meaning to the intended recipeint.

(what appears as blue is actually grey; quite stunning! And it was soft like silk too!)

Next: layout a design for the item that you intend to design for your loved ones. And then, set up your basic assembly line, and ponder (best to record your ponderings) in which order to complete the applications...you know, bottom pieces first, all the same coloured thread at the same time, same pressor foot at the same time, etc., etc.

The larger black item is meant to be the half silhouette of the female body; when I tried to sketch and cut out the entire curvature (because we're meant to have curves!!) it ended up looking like...

The Stanley Cup.

At least I know where the designer got his inspiration!

O.K. so you've got the machine part of the assembly completed and now it's on to the embellishments! And this is where you get to change your mind and EDIT your design! So plan for 2-3 of the extras that you wanted to add will be put away for another day.

See, that's satisfactory...a little white star hung by some gold yarn; should look pretty good. So do all the finishing work and then display infront of the Christmas tree that your mother crocheted for you when you got your first apartment when you were 19 years old, in preparation for the photo shoot. And...

The back view of the ornament, that when presented received questions like, "is it a purse; how do I get into it?" and "is it a bookmark?" I like the bookmark idea; it'll be enjoyed all year long. But the purse thing? That's just too fiddly for me!

And here's the front view of "The Red Hot Mamas" ornament as inspired by Cotton Picker (see previous posts for link). And doesn't the star look 'fabulous' with the gold streamers?! Isn't it interesting how much something can change by turning it upside down and adding just a bit more sparkle?

So, I completed 8 of those before the party on Saturday night. And it felt good that everyone really did appreciate the effort that went into them. On Sunday, it was the dash (unfortunately a slow dash) to my parents after my son's hockey game (he tied; they remain unbeaten!) for the family Christmas gathering. Another wonderful meal and lots of laughs. The laughs are pretty easy when there's a two year old running around (two next month for all the detail oriented people out there!) Anyway we got home pretty late, but luckily the dog had behaved and all she had for me was kisses; no mess to clean up----Yea!

So the next morning is Christmas Eve; I'm still thinking that I can get some things sewn up for the kids and I'm enjoying my coffee in my studio and down comes my daughter....looking like she was going to cry or that somebody had just done something awful to her; so I ask her, "What's the matter?"

"I feel like I'm going to throw up RIGHT NOW!!"

And here comes another one of my finest moments as a parent...

"NOT IN HERE!!"

I get her turned around and we're heading out of my room when, BLAHHH! The poor thing, she was so worried about not getting barf on anything, that, well, it was all over her instead. Got her cleaned up and she really felt tons better after throwing up. Now, could someone please explain to me why a child who's bedroom is on the second floor, will pass their father who is in the room next to them, and who has a ensuite in the room; pass the main bathroom; turn right, instead of left to the two piece on the main floor, to go down the stairs to tell their mom, who is in a room, overflowing with yarn and fabric and not known for her organizational skills re: aforementioned yarn and fabric, to announce that they have to throw up "NOW!"?

Anyone?

And it gets better.

My son threw up twice that afternoon, but I guess when you're 11, you figure out that the bathroom is the way to go. My daughter didn't throw up anymore, but did have a nosebleed and while it was obvious that she had a fever, denied feeling anything untoward (now, you never get to use that word!) I did get the P.J.'s finished for them, but not before they went to bed; so the jammies were waiting for them when they woke up in the morning. Everybody managed to sleep through the night; infact I was the first one up at 7 to look after the dog. But I hadn't had a restful night.

The kids and I, all droopy and pale, sat around waiting for my husband to come down so that the kids could 'do' their stockings. We had a lot of fun opening the gifts and seeing just what each of us had come up with for the others and when we were done, I said, "I get the couch!" I was there for a little while and then got kicked out (actually left voluntarily) so that High School Musical 2 could get it's debut. I went upstairs to bed and there I stayed for the day. Yup, I had nothing left for the day that I prepared so long for. And next year, it's gonna be different...I've already got it planned out!

Do we ever learn? Please tell me it's not only me.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and many, many more!!