Well Bless Me! Has it Been a Week Already?

Time flies when you're having fun or in my case sewing, and sewing, and sewing.  You'd think with all the sewing I've been doing I would have more to show for it in my Etsy shop, but alas all I've managed to add to my store is one little outfit.  Most of my time has been spent with two winter coats I'm working on for baby dolls.  Take today for instance.  I have spent the last 4 hours ripping out stitches on one of the coats in order to redo the whole thing.  I've almost got it done but had to take a break because something went wrong.  It was either take a break or set the thing on fire.  Sewing is a task for patient people and I am not a patient person.  Don't ever pray for patience cause God will not just zap you and you will be patient.  Instead he will put a desire in you to take up something, like sewing, that teaches you patience.  I have many more outfits cut out and ready to go, but these coats have become a challenge so those outfits are on the back burner for a bit.

Anyhoo, what has gone on in my neck of the woods lately?  Nothin to write home about, or in my case, write here about.  The truck over heated on the way to my Dh work the other morning.  It was only slightly stressful because I don;t want to have to use our car fund, but less stressful because we do have a car fund.  Yay!  But the good news is the repair is under warranty from the engine replacement back in June.  The repair and towing will cost nothing!  Love that one!  Because of that my Dh asked them to look at the power steering to see why it's leaking.  They may not make the repair right now, but he figured might as well take a look now since it's there anyway.  Hopefully we'll know something Monday.

On the home repair front, we got the estimate for repairing the floor in the kitchen and replacing the damaged ceiling in the master bath.  Not to shabby at $550.  We have it!  Once that's taken care of we'll go back to roof replacement saving, but at a slower pace.


Now.  I will leave you with a pic of hopefully what one of the coats will look like once finished.  This is a coat and hat I made for my moms doll.  The one I'm working on will be similar, not identical

Ode to my Big sis.

I am one of 6 children, 4 girls and 2 boys.  4 of us are still earth bound.  Of the 4 of us, I'm closest to my big sister.  I really can't say she's a big sister anymore.  She's rather small now, and I'm not about to call her oldest.  She's just Debbie.  I'm the middle child.  My sisters were before me and my brothers were younger.  In other words I'm the youngest daughter.   Debbie is a twin.  I never got a chance to know that sister.  She died 3 days after her birth.  They were identical and I have to say the thought of two of Debbie would have been cool!!!!!  I miss the thought of her.  Growing up Debbie always seemed larger than life.  She was 8 years older than me and seemed to be able to do all the cool stuff.   Poor thing used to have to babysit the rest of us, Bless her heart!  I know my younger brother and I gave her heck.  But you know what?  There was never a time when I wasn't welcome into her totally awesome room!  It had a huge stuffed "Luv Bug" worm and a pink fuzzy 78 record holder.  She still has that record holder by the way.  She would tell us Bible Stories and use voices.  She taught us camp songs and said funny things.   I even got to go see her and spend the night when she was in college, but I threw up all the junk food I had been eating and had to go home.   Having an 8 year difference in age meant I didn't know her as well when I was young.  She was practically grown by the time my memories started.  I just knew I loved her, and wanted to be like her.  I didn't know until I was about 18 how much like her I was.  I would tell people I was going to go to Russia and convert the KGB.  I just happened to speak that out loud at a talent show I was participating in and my mom said what few hairs my daddy had left turned grey.  Apparently Debbie had the same thought.  Its a funny story to us anyway.  As a new mom I watched how Debbie cared for her kids; Cooking from scratch, Homeschooling, Sewing, Crocheting.  She even knew that beans and grains made a complete protein!  WOW! Lol. In my eyes she was a way better mom than I was.  So just like before, I aspired to be just like her.  I was a single mom and she would watch my Baby Diva while I worked, but on my off times I was still over at her house.  We would sew, shop for fabric (A lot of fabric), go to the grocery store together, break down in the middle of drive thru with a car packed to the gills with kids and groceries.  What that hasn't happened to everyone?.  We laughed and laughed.  We had a yard sale together once before.  I think we would have made more money had we not shopped from each others stuff. Lol.  All my adult life, just about, we have been thick as thieves.  The sewing, baking, Thrift store shopping (that's our main thing right there), and marathon phone calls have been a staple of our life.

This morning, while going through some drawers and organizing stuff, I found a letter she wrote me last Christmas.  She had bought me a serger.

This Serger was (and is) awesome, but the letter is the treasure.  "When I am with you," she wrote "I face the world with a smile and a bit more fearless.  At the beginning, I was the big sister and you were the little sister, but now you are my best friend".  I sat on the floor and read this letter again this morning with tears running down my face.  She is one of my greatest blessings.  I could not and would not ask for a better big sister.  She is my best friend.

The Power.....of Priorities

So update on our saving money.  So far so good.  If we hold true and don't falter, we will have money enough saved to replace the roof.   Yea.....about that.... See we are holding true, but it seems our focus is having to change.  I know reading this blog can sometime impose a fear of...WHIPLASH.  I don't mean to, but things change.  You gotta ride the roller coaster so to speak.  Hence the title to my post.

With the skylight removed now and that part of the roof repaired, (knock on wood) we don't have any other leaks currently in our roof.  What we do have is a rather large area of floor damage in the kitchen where the dishwasher used to be as well as a damaged ceiling panel needing to be repaired in the bathroom where the skylight used to be.  The ceiling panel is the least expensive of the "needs repair" list, and with no other leaks in the roof right now, the floor in the kitchen takes precedence.   It has to.  This is a structural thing rather than cosmetic, and, until we are actually having trouble with a leaking roof, we need to address this first.  So while we are still saving money, it's purpose has changed to repairing the floor. We are still going to have and contribute to a roof fund.  Let's face it, we will need to replace the roof one day soon, but for now that repair,I believe, is on hold.

In a different way, my priorities have changed in that I am motivated to make more little doll outfits.  This is due to the opening of my new little Etsy shop.  I need to stock it.  If you have noticed my
"Doll Clothes" page is gone.    If you want to see all the cute little outfits I've been creating (Well if I do say so myself. ) you can go to Tea time Doll Clothes to see what I have.  The creation of these little cuties has taken precedence over...ummm...cleaning?  Lol.  Just deep cleaning.  Laundry, Dishes, baking, etc is still in the fore front.

Today, for instance, is a kitchen kind of day because I have an order to fill for bread as well as other odds and ends for us.  If I get caught up with that, as Cinderella to the ball, I will get a chance to work on some more doll clothes.

So there you go.  That's what's going on with us.  What about you?

I just had to put this in here cause I thought it was a good example of priorities, and a chuckle.

Party Pooper

"Every Party has a pooper that's why we invited you.  Party Pooper!".  That song still at 48 plays in my head.  I can still hear my mother sing it to one of us when we were not wanting to join in in family activities or other fun things.

I bring this point up because all day yesterday I heard about people ringing in the new year and/or spouting their New Year's Resolutions.  DH and I don't do resolutions.  After a month of rich, high calorie eating, I may go back to our normal healthy eating, but that's the extent of it and usually happens as soon as Christmas is over.  This year I looked back and asked myself what would I choose as a New Year's resolution.  My Answer?  Nothing.  You see my life is a work in progress.  I look back at my twenties and see how far I've come.  Shoot I look back to my early 40's and see how far I've come.  Know what?  Many of those changes in my life or my maturity level came during the year...on their own...without a resolution.  It's a constant work of God in my life.  " Being confident of this that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus".  (Philippians 1:6).   I am not what I was, but I am still not who I will be.  Best thing about it is, just as a master sculptor see in his minds eye the finished work of his hand, so does Jesus.  He doesn't see me as I am now, but sees me as I will be.  My job is to keep my focus on Him and be receptive to his leading.  This is my daily prayer; to be more receptive to God's voice.  I do look back over this past year (which, sadly,  has gone by so fast) and see the good and bad.  What this makes me realize is how blessed we are.

As for the parties and such.  We are very low key.  We all stayed home in our Pj's, had pizza, and stayed up til Midnight to toast in the new year.  Pretty much it.  I rang in the year with 3 of my favorite guys, feeling blessed.  I couldn't ask for more.