One of the good things...

about having a full-time job is the ability to get this:

Yep...after futzing around with old, used models, this bad boy is on it's way to my house as we speak. I can hardly wait. Sometimes, I'm a little giddy when I think about it.

And lest you think I've lost my frugal ways, I'll be selling off the extra pieces of the older model I have now on eBay. Heck, my mixer base just needs a $40 part. I saw a mixer base that DIDN'T EVEN WORK!!! sell on eBay for over $50 (before shipping!!!) so mine that works (but needs the part that makes the blender spin) should sell just fine. Plus I have an extra dough hook. EVERYONE needs an extra dough hook! That should knock down the price to the $300 I'd budgeted for it. maybe even $250.

I can smell the bread baking already!

PIF Winners

Here's to Allanna, Aimeslee, and Jill (Jill, I couldn't find your blog) who will get the PIF. I'll be emailing you to get your addys. You could also email me at DianneKNelson (at) yahoo (dot) com with that same info!

Congrats guys! Let me know your favorite colors!

Blog PIF

So I followed a link from Ali's blog to Molly Irwin's blog that led to this: a Blog PIF! I love the idea, and I love the freedom to send out a giftie in the next year. Gives me something to look forward to once the crush of the holiday season is passed. I'll follow the same guidelines--the first 3 commenters will get the PIF, the PIF will be hand-made--but not necessarily paper, and those that comment pledge to send their PIF to people who comment on their blogs. So here goes!

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Enjoy! I know that I will!

So many thoughts, so little time...

Hello faithful blog readers!

It is the eve of my first free Saturday since sometime in August, and I am taking the time to write a little blog post to anyone out there who's reading. I have so much in my head "write" now, so much that I sincerely hope that it tumbles out with some semblance of order and sense.

I'm working full time. It's a big change for me. I've been at home for the last (about) four and half years. I'm working in a preschool/day care center that is housed in a local elementary school. So we get a lot of siblings, and a lot of what we call "kindergarten wrap-arounds" (which are kids that are in our program half a day and in kindergarten the other half, and usually then after school for about 3 hrs or so until 5:30, when we close). It's really made me re-examine my own parenting, as well as my thoughts/opinions on parenting and families and such.

First let me stress that these are my opinions, not judgements. I personally feel that it's really unfair to judge anyone--and as soon as you (I) do, than you'll be held up to the same measuring stick for some judging of your own. Essentially, what I am seeing as I nurture and parent these 4 and 5 year olds for some 8+ hours a day is that the family is falling apart and it's hurting kids in ways we can't even fathom yet. Most of our kids are coming from single parent families--and a lot of those are just barely getting through traumatic separations. I know that these single moms are doing the best they can with what they've got. I'm glad to help them and support them where I can. But I see the other end of things for those 8+ hours a day. Kids so distracted and agitated that they can't focus on anything for even 10 minutes. Kids who are afraid that we are going to leave them on the playground and leave them behind and silently cry or quake with fear at the drop of a hat. Kids who think nothing of hitting, pushing, shoving, punching in the face, or elbowing to get their way or get the toy they want or to simply assert their control over another person (and let me say that sometimes the one pushing and elbowing is my own child as well....). Kids who are simply defiant. It's tough. I don't have answers. I just know that these kids are reacting more to their home life and home situations than their parents probably realize.

I learn new things every day about improving my parenting. I work with a wonderful gal who's done this job for 15 years (I sometimes think of her in my head as "the child whisperer") and I've learned a lot. If you are looking for help in your parenting, I can recommend some great books---"Positive Discipline" by Jane Nelson (I first read this during a college classroom management class) and "Raising Self-Reliant Children in Self-Indulgent World" by H. Stephen Glenn. These are fabulous books that won't make you feel guilty about your parenting. Plain, honest language that will give you more tools for your parenting toolbox.

This job has humbled me in many ways as well. I'm grateful that I'm not a single mom. I have nothing but respect and admiration for those that are. I see moms every day that are doing the very best with what they have. I also have learned that for me, and for my family, things are better when I am at home. I am planning to work full-time through the rest of the school year, but next year, when C. is in kindergarten, I am only working part-time. I'm going to be home when he's home. I try not to think about the fact that I'm not there when my kids are home from school. It breaks my heart a little.

Lots more thoughts are tumbling around, like "why didn't we avoid the financial choices that put us here in the need for me to work...." and "wow, I always said that I could never do daycare, but yet that's pretty much what I am doing. How Ironic..." to "I have so many books and stories running around in my head and heart---I think it's finally time to discipline myself to write them down like I always wanted to do" to "I am happier when I am in a creative job, or at least have the time weekly to have a creative outlet" to "I love to sing! My concert was fabulous! I need to sing more!" and a really big one that I'd love to talk about, but it's pretty raw: for no reason I can fathom, my very best friend is no longer talking to me. Not in person, not on the phone, and not via email. She never showed for appointments we had, and she just stopped answering the phone one day, and never returned my calls and (and we used to talk several times a day...and get together in person at least once a week) It hurts a lot and I don't know what to do about it.

and so on...

Let me just sum this up like this: I wish all of the moms out there, single or not, working outside the home or inside the home, I wish you all peace of mind. I wish you contentment. I wish you support for your choices. I wish you best friends. I wish you the things you wish for. (and I wish the Dads the same things...)

Good night!

Look at Me!

Sweet Home Gala

This is me! I'm singing here in a couple of weeks. They spelled my name wrong in this press release, but there I am!

Guess I'd better practice....

Hello Little Blog...

I know you've been neglected....

I could go on and on about how busy I've been, but truthfully, in this age of Instant Everything, we are all busy.

I could say that I've been too tired to blog, but again, we are all tired because we are all busy.

I could regale you with tales from my workplace, but since my work revolves around 3, 4, and 5 year olds, it's not pretty. And sometimes it smells.

Just know that I'm writing blog posts in my head and I'm practicing saying "no" to all the extra things in my life that I haven't had to say "no" to for the past 3 years or so (once C was past his first year of life, the year we refer to now as "The Year of Not Sleeping") because I had the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom. And eventually, I'll carve out the time to put them here where they belong.

Or else I'll forget them entirely. And then I'll write something else. Eventually

You Know You've Been Blogging When....

So I'm working on a mini-album for my class this last Saturday. It was a "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" class, and focused on making an album map for a theme album. Since we didn't really vacation this year, I chose to do my album on the trip that DH and I took to Boston last May. (scroll down for Boston posts).

The point to this post? I'm writing out my journaling, and every time I come to a key place as I wrote, I found myself wanting to put in hyperlinks.....

Let's Create a Personal Day!

Wouldn't it be great if we could have the power to add another day to the week? Or just stop the world around us long enough to get a little more caught up? I'm so wishing I had a day just for me. A day where I didn't have to meet anyone's deadlines but my own. That way, I'd have clean clothes in my closet (instead of in stinky piles around our family office) and I'd be caught up in projects for my classes at Stampin'Cat. (How nice would THAT be? Instead of trying to do my projects in a semi-lit classroom during "rest time", racing to finish it before my class on Saturday, I'd just turn in a finished sample a month before the class is scheduled. Ah, what quiet bliss!)

Or, instead of rushing around trying to get caught up, I'd just sleep all day....and then I'd sleep some more.

And that's the other side.

Back to the proverbial grindstone

So I've started working full time again. I haven't worked full time in about 4 years. I taught preschool 4 years ago when I was pregnant with C. I'm working again for the same company in almost the same situation--a preschool/care center in a local elementary school. On one hand, I'm glad for a job where I don't have to pay extra for care for C. On the other hand, there are a lot of reasons I liked/chose/wanted to be a SAHM. But little luxuries like food and the power bill got in the way of those.

My plate is extremely full right now. We are going to be in transition for a few weeks while we get used to Mom being gone. And I'm going to have to be extra efficient to get everything done that I need to get done. (If there are other mothers working outside the home, you know exactly what I'm talking about). We have a new dog in our home (not the best time to get a dog, but when you are given a bichon frise--purebred--the very dog you've wanted for years, you say "yes!"). I am managing the music for our church worship services, leading the choir, and leading the music at our main meeting. I'm still teaching 2-3 classes at Stampin'Cat a month, teaching my own class once a month at the community room at Ray's grocery store, and getting the kids to TaeKwonDo a couple of times a week, plus homework for a 7th and 3rd grader, plus Cub Scouts, and so on and so on. I've discovered that I need a little more quick things in my pantry so we can still eat as a family each day. I don't have time to make my own chicken broth, I need it in a can.

Still, I feel strongly that this is the right job for me right now. I've been praying that the right job would come along so that I could make a positive financial impact on my family's finances. I didn't want a job working minimum wage where the government would take, oh let's say $2 of my $7.50 an hour wage (the minimum here in Oregon), childcare would take $4 of it, leaving me with only $1.50 per hour to show for my work. This is definitely the job I was supposed to have. We've set a goal to be free of consumer debt in 5 years (just in time to send J to college!). I created a lot of that consumer debt with my different "jobs" (see here and here) so I really feel like it's only fair to help out. Plus the economy right now is killing us. We re-did our budget recently and found out taht 4 years ago, we paid $50 a paycheck for gas for two weeks for two cars--now, with the SAME cars, we pay close to $200 a paycheck for gas for two weeks. Milk is nearly $3 a gallon--and we drink a lot more of it now. It's just harder to make those elusive ends meet. So I've gone back to work, to a job I had before and like, with people I worked with before and liked, and my only real "perk" is that I don't have to pay a penny for C's care. That's huge! I know that my Heavenly Father is watching out for me right now. And I need the help!

Here's to the Mom's out there who work outside their homes! I know what a juggling act you do each day, and I salute you!

The Power of Paper

I had a wonderful "grandma" aged gal take my "Holiday Memories" book last November at Stampin'Cat tell this story at one of my classes this summer. She made the book for her 15 yo granddaughter. Earlier this year (late spring or early summer) this dgd had a big fight with her parents and decided to leave home. She'd made her grand exit, complete with door slamming and stomping off when she suddenly turned around, slammed her way back inside the house grabbed the scrapbook her grandmother gave her (the small "Holiday Memories" book) and then stomped and slammed out again.

"That's when I knew she'd be back" said her grandmother.

I love that a little paper combined with the time to lovingly create something has so much power.

I don't think that counts....

4 yo DS takes all his clothes off and starts running through the house.

Mom sees him and asks, "Are you nakey?!?!"

4 yo covers up in front and answers, "I not nakey, I have hands!"

(enjoy the laugh for the day!)

LOVE this book!

THIS BOOK is one of the coolest things I've read w/my 4 yo in a long time. It's wonderful on so many developmental levels! You can work on colors, animal names/recognition/sounds, as well as short term memory. On top of all that, it's just plain fun! I know what's going under the tree this Christmas! (We found ours at the library if you wanted to give it a test run...check your local library) Or you can follow the link and support an extraordinary Oregon bookstore.

Thank You Laurel Thatcher Ulrich!

12 yo DD reading a bumper sticker as we drive down I-205:

"Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History. *giggle* *pause* I could make history!"

She didn't realize I heard her. I say, "Go For It!"

Oh Max!

Attention all Max and Ruby devotees! This one's for you!

On the table, a pitcher of Crystal Light Lemonade. Four-year-old C asks in hushed and reverential (but excited) tones, "Is that....Lemonade!?!?"

"Yes," I answer, wondering what all the fuss is about. "Do you want some?"

"OH YES!" He sips his glass and then says, "Is that a hint of mint?"

He drinks again and says, "Delicious!"

Happy 99!

Here is Dorothea, Great-Grandmother so fine,

Celebrating a birthday---number NINETY-NINE!

Doesn't Joel's grandmother look good! We had a lovely party for her last week. She's still going strong. We joked that at her 100th's birthday, everyone needed to just bring her $100 bills. Her supper club passed on the rubber chicken, so that tradition was preserved.

Many friends and family members came to pay their respects. She's a lovely, gracious woman, and I'm glad that my children have had the chance to know her and be close to her.

Live long and prosper! Happy 99th Dorothea!

How Embarrassing!

This was my entry for the HELLOmynameisHeather blog candy contest.

I was 18 years old and driving from my Jr. College in Idaho back home to Portland, Oregon. I had bummed a ride with two very nice guys that I didn't know at all, and, in fact, met just before we left for home.

Here's some backstory: my family moved to Portland just after I graduated from high school. I had lived in our new house for about six weeks before I left to go to college.

Well, as we pulled into the downtown area of Portland (I actually lived in a suburb...) I had the sinking realization that I didn't know how to get home. No idea whatsoever where I lived. Of course, it was at that precise moment that the guy driving said, "Okay Dianne, how do we get to your house?" I had to sheepishly admit that I didn't know. Thankfully, they were good sports about it, and decided to just "drive around" until I saw something familiar. A few large circles and a wrong turn later, we made it to my house.

After that, I made sure to have directions.

Still Spinning

July was busy. Really busy. I'm still reeling a bit, and looking for a breather. We had a 4th Celebration, Cub Scout Camp, classes and demos at Stampin'Cat, family reunion in Wenatchee, my 20th High School reunion in Spokane, a small (but miraculous and faith-building) jet-ski/tube accident, Girl's Camp, singing at Girl's Camp, learning to tie-dye and being in charge of the crafts at GC, and finally some out of town company with a few visits w/my parents mixed in to keep things interesting.

We spent yesterday at Splash! after seeing "Shrek the Third" with our visiting friends. Lots of fun. Lots of chlorine. We'll see what the rest of the day brings! Enjoy these pictures of the Stonehenge Memorial we stopped at on the way home from Wenatchee.

Over The River...

I've been dreaming of my Grandmother's house at night. I know that house very well. I know where my father's teenage Chuck Taylor footprint on the sheetrock is hiding under wood paneling, left from when he and my uncle were building the house with my Grandfather. I know the patchwork pattern of the tile my Grandfather used in the downstairs basement shower that became my bathroom shower when I attended Oregon State. I know the heating ductwork where he put his "Hello My Name Is" nametags from the various events he attended as a chemistry professor for Oregon State. I added my own to the collection. I know which rooms my Dad slept in as a teenager. I know the blue room upstairs with its light blue paneling and light blue shag carpet; that was my Aunt Lila's room. I thought it was the most beautiful room in the world when I was a child. I know where Grandma kept her tools. I know the Gardening room, the Wood room, the Bike Room (where I hung my bike on the same bike pulley sysem my Grandfather used to hang his bike--the same bike he once got a speeding ticket on as he raced across the Oregon State Campus), and the tool benches in the garage--left pretty much as my Grandfather left them when he lost his lymphoma battle when I was sixteen.

I'm seeing different parts of the house in my dream. The room divider in the living room where my Grandma stored knickknacks. The drawer that housed all of her Pyrex. The drawer that housed all of the cookie sheets and cake pans. Every thing in the kitchen was custom made by my grandfather to her specifications. I see the knife slots for each individual knife, the sections in the drawers for kitchen utensils separated by size and function, the drawers for her linens and tablecloths, the cupboard with the cookie jar and the corny poster that said "My Grandma is the best by far, for she has got a Cookie Jar!" (I loved that poster!) on the inside of the door, the under cabinet fluorescent lights. I see the double closet that still held many of my Grandfather's clothes and also his filing cabinets in what became the boys room. I see the storeroom under the stairs that held the old games and toys my brother and sisters and cousins played when we came to visit, the shelves with my Grandfather's photo developing chemicals, all labeled neatly and out of reach of most children, the cheerleader megaphone he was gifted with at some point in his collegiate teaching career. And even though they were long gone after his death, I remember the shelves where his duck hunting buoys stood in neat rows. I remember the smell of water and the rubber that hung in the air around them. I remember his little office where he refilled his shotgun casings. I remember that was something scary to me as a child, and I didn't stay in that room for long---just long enough to take a butterscotch candy from the dish on his desk. I liked to think he kept them there just for me.

I remember my Grandmother's sewing closet. I remember the beautiful draperies she made for each room of the house. I remember that I thought there was nothing she couldn't make. I now have one of her ironing boards. I've had it for years now. It's heavy and awkward and most current ironing board covers don't really fit it; it's heavy plywood with heavy metal legs. The original cover had a blanket material as it's padding. Sometimes think a more modern board would be better for my needs, but then I remember that her name is written on the board beneath the cover, so it would be set aside for her at the store she bought it at originally. When I use that ironing board, I feel connected to her. Connected to my past.

We moved a lot during my childhood. My father was in the service, and moving often is a part of that life. My grandmother's address was on our luggage as our permanent address, just in case we were ever sepearated from it. That started when we moved to Germany in 1974. I moved into her house in 1989. I lived there until I got married in 1992 (interrupted only by a VERY brief stint sharing an apartment with a friend). During that time I connected with my Grandmother more than anyone else in my family did. This house held my roots and my history; her house was my roots in a very real way. Everywhere I went in that house, I was surrounded by a part of my history; it was one of those houses where nothing every really changed. I like to pretend that it's still a part of my family, even though it was sold per the instructions left by my Grandfather's trust.

We've lived in our house in Albany for four-and-a-half years now. This is the longest period in my entire life where I had the same address. In the 14 and a half years we've been married, we've had 10 different street addresses. That's a lot of moving! In fact, I think I still have at least one box in the garage that was packed a couple of moves ago. (I'm working through them--I just did a couple of boxes last week). Fortunately, my children have settled in here easily. They are planting the kinds of roots I never was able to. I marvel at that sometimes--and I'm grateful that they are building good friendships and relationships--that they are well-known at their elementary school and well-liked by their teachers. It's good for me too--I'm building my own friendships and relationships. We are all making our own roots.

Where are your roots? Do you have friends that date back to your kindergarten years? Or are you having the chance to build your own roots today. Whether we move all over or stay in the same places, we all have the chance to "bloom where we are planted" (to paraphrase Mary Englebreit). We can make our own roots or we can find a way to be content without them. Either way, I'm grateful for the dreams of my grandmother's house. I was happy there. I like remembering all the bits and pieces that make up my connections and my roots. And when I'm exasperating my children by wanting things just so--like my Grandmother did (I used to have to vacuum the carpet in straight lines--and then spend the rest of the week walking around the edges of the room so that I didn't mess up those lines) I remember that I come by my quirks honestly. I have connections to my roots.

Here's to connections!

And that's the other side.

Happy Independence Day!

Love that we have our freedoms! Take a moment today to be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy here in America!

More later!

The Magic Number

C, my 4 year old is AMAZINGLY savvy at recognizing symbols. He calls McDonalds "Ba-Ba" (sing it to yourself---"Ba ba ba ba ba....I'm Lovin' It!) and has for about 2 years now. It was one of the few things he would say that we could understand when he was just forming words. Once he sang it to us, that is.

Nowadays, he recognizes cars that are like Daddy's (Hondas--w/the big "H" symbol. All Honda's are like Daddy's car, even though the big boxy things are nothing like our 11 year old Accord), spouts off random letters when "reading" signs and can choose between Burger King ("cheeseburger") and McDonalds ("ba-ba") depending on which toy is available at the time. Never mind the fact that all he eats are the french fries.

But every number is "Seventeen." Looking at a clock, he'll tell you "It's Seventeen O'Clock!" If he's tired, he'll say, "It's seventeen o'clock--time for bed!" When he wants to go home, it's..."Seventeen O'Clock." He's the proud owner of a Finding Nemo book from Goodwill; one of those fun books where you push the button that goes with a picture in the story and a sound will play to support the action. This morning he came to us pointing at the price tag and saying, "Seventeen Dollars. Look, it's Seventeen Dollars."

Thank goodness it wasn't! And I hope the batteries run out soon. Well, after he's had Seventeen hours of fun.