Rainbow Prayer Bear-Meet Gabby

My daughter attends a Baptist Preschool. We aren't Baptist-nor do we align ourselves with many of their beliefs however it is a dear sweet school and I feel good about my daughter attending. That was until Saturday-no make it Friday. Friday when my daughter got in the car with an extra school bag. I thought there had been some mistake- perhaps she had grabbed another child's bag. But it wouldn't take me long to understand. My daughter immediately began to explain-with great joy and excitement-that she was the lucky student entrusted with the weekend care of the class mascot "Rainbow Prayer Bear". SHIT! We just aren't the sort of family to be entrusted with anything-let alone a beloved class mascot.

I warned-I scolded-I reminded "keep Rainbow Prayer Bear out of the dogs reach" I said...but really...none of us truly grasped the actual "reach" of our new dog-she can reach anything.

The missing eye and nose are hard to overlook-as well as the long gash along the face. It took Gabby approximately .023 seconds to do this damage.



Well all I can say is thank goodness for EBay. Another bear is on the way-hopefully in time for the next little trustee to take the new and improved Rainbow Prayer Bear home for a weekend visit.

Naked No More

Annabelle now has a lovely dress. I can hardly wait to start on my next doll.

Doll Porn

At least that's what I was thinking as I took these pictures. Perhaps what I should say is: This is my first ever Waldorf doll. I just finished making her and I think she is lovely. I do need to make her a frock-but I'll work on that tomorrow. I am so pleased with her that I couldn't wait to post her photo. My son wants me to make a Shrek doll for him-or perhaps an alien....yeah....I'll work on that next.

This is how she looked last night
She is stuffed with wool and is made with all natural materials. Very crunchy-don't you think.

Big Foot-Little Footprint

Let me preface this by saying I AM NOT bragging. But I am really pleased with myself. Our family has been working very hard to recycle everything we possibly can. We have always felt recycling was a no brainier but we only made an effort to recycle what the trash company collected each week (which wasn't much). A "green" friend of my husband once bragged that she only threw out a small sized bag of trash each week, recycling everything else. I remember thinking "yeah whatever" but it planted a seed in my head.

Currently we recycle a lot-our real goal is to use less but in the meantime we try to recycle every bit of glass, plastic, metal, and paper, batteries, light bulbs, etc in our home. I have had bad composting experiences and I killed all the worms in my worm farm-but I will try again...which leads me to my original point.

Last week we didn't have any trash. OK I am not being perfectly honest-I did throw out a bag of neighborhood trash-things tossed out by some joy riding teens-but I didn't put out any trash from our home. Yea us! And again in honesty I'll admit the kitchen trash can was about 1/3 full and the various other cans around the house had a wee bit of trash-but nothing worth carrying to the curb. I think this was our first ever no-trash week. I hope there are many more to come.

While searching for an image to accompany my post I found the following designer trash bags...I'll leave the commentary to you.

Call Me Paris Hilton

I am concerned about the economy so I have been really watching my spending. I am trying to only buy the necessities, you know, gasoline, groceries, electricity, and puffy pink dog jackets.

Yes, I know they are quite ridiculous. But...Gabby has short hair and I really thought she needed a little something to keep her warm when we walk on cold days. Molly has fur like a Husky-so I really doubt she needs a coat. But seriously....how could I resist? No, wait, don't answer that.

From dog shelter to high fashion

"Gimme a break"

Gabby: "What is this thing"? Molly: "How the heck should I know"

Could it be...

Has it finally happened? I'm not really sure, the last time I had this feeling was March of 2003. My first child was overdue and for weeks I just sat around the house...feeling bored? Could it be? Bored? I wasn't sure I would ever experience this feeling again. Honestly for the first time in nearly six years there is nothing I need to do. Oh sure there are always things that could be done-should be done...but nothing pressing. Nothing I have to accomplish today-nothing for tomorrow, nothing for the foreseeable future. I feel empty inside.

Today I read a whole book-an actual grown-up book with no pictures. I should be thrilled to have a break-thrilled to read more than page at a time between interruptions-but instead of joy it feels a bit more like sorrow.

Usually I am manic with responsibility- errands, PTA, homework, projects, chores. Free time has been a rare and coveted commodity in my life for so long-shouldn't this respite from the grind be welcomed relief? Why do I feel so depressed?

I could ruminate on this for hours but I think the best therapy would be a extra large load of laundry and long walk. Reality and exercise - a sure cure for a boring day.

Christmas for Dummies

I was raised in a cult. OK-I'll be honest it wasn't exactly a Kool-Aid with Jim sort-of cult, but it has had a dramatic impact on my adult life. As a child our "cult" didn't allow the celebration of religious or secular holidays containing any pagan component-so, no Halloween, no Easter, and most traumatic of all, no Christmas.

As a child I sorely longed to “have” Christmas. I loved everything about it, well I loved it from afar, since we weren't allowed to so much as accept a Christmas present or even respond to a well wished "Merry Christmas" uttered from a passerby.

My most magical memories of Christmas came from visiting my cousin’s house. Her dark wood paneled 70's era basement was filled with trees, garland, mistletoe, wreaths, lights, and presents, (not to mention home-made wine, a disco ball, and squirrel taxidermy-but these were easily overlooked on Christmas). I dreamed that one day I might get to decorate a tree and open a gift on Christmas morning. I had to wait 18 years for that dream to come true.

I celebrated my first Christmas while dating my (now)-husband. That was 10 years ago. The previous 27 year Christmas void has manifested itself in my adult life as Katherine- Christmas fanatic.

I finally get to do it all, the lights, the trees, and the presents-sheer joy. Of course along the way I have had to learn to celebrate a holiday which holds no religious significance to me what-so-ever. But it also gives me the freedom to pick and choose how I want to celebrate with my family. It also allows me to create lasting family traditions-no matter how bizarre or inappropriate.

Even though I officially began to celebrate the Season prior to Thanksgiving I am sad to see it coming to an end. Happily I can say that this year I have baked numerous treats, attended a cookie exchange, read a Christmas novel, decorated every room of my house including putting up 7 trees, I have made Christmas crafts, introduced a shelf elf, bought heirloom ornaments, made a gingerbread village, watched every imaginable Christmas movie and come one step closer to fulfilling the dreams of a little girl without Christmas.

Oh Oh Oh Merry Christmas