Birth Order- Ghost of Journals Past

I am in the process of  “backing up” my hand written journals by transcribing them into digital format. I wonder if I can do it WITHOUT editing the spelling, grammar and stupid-me-why-did-I-write-this-down errors? As I was flipping through some of the “back issues”, this sidetracked me:

Boy              Boy

Girl               Girl

Boy              Boy

Boy     OR     Boy

Girl                  Girl

Boy               Girl

Girl                  Boy

Girl                   Girl

Anyway I don’t know which if more entertaining…the fact that

A.   I wrote down the preferred birth order of my unborn children

or that

B.   I wrote down so many! (I’m not ruling out 8 but WowZa! From where I stand today, 

                that is highly unlikely.)

If nothing else, this transcription process should provide a good hearty laugh.

I love my journals.

I love to see how things change over time.

I love to have proof to back me up when my memory 

(or someone else’s) 

fails.

Unfinished Business

The Baby Quilt

The Barbie Wedding Dress

The Birthday DVD’s (x3)

The Birthday Photo Albums (x3)

The Black Dress/Skirt?

The Blanket From Christmas Scraps                                    Finished 02/26/2010

The Blanket From Last Year’s Christmas Scraps            Finished 03/03/2010

The Book

The Bow Hangers

The Bows

The Christmas Present                                                Finished 02/22/2010           

The Christmas Tree Skirt

The Cleopatra Hair Hat

The Cross Stitch

The Denim/Khaki/Red Quilt

The Doll Clothes

The Dress-Ups

The DVD (favor for a friend)

The Easter Dresses 2010

The Embroidered Quilt

The Family DVD’s v.1- v.?)

The Framing of the Cross Stitch

The Halloween Apron

The Karaoke Book

The Kitchen (painting)

The Mending

The Mission Movie

The Other Christmas Present (painting)

The Other DVD (favor for a friend)

The Other Wedding Present (DVD)

The Pettiskirts

The Picture Frame

The Picture Recovery & Organization

The PJ Bottoms (x3)

The Playroom

The Rag Quilt From Christmas Scraps

The Recipe Book

The Shopping Sacks

The Summer Dress for Little Girl

The Summer Skirt I

The Summer Skirt II

The Vintage Summer Dress

The Wedding Present (DVD)

Isn’t that list

Romantic?

And by Romantic  I mean:

of or characterized by,

or suggestive of an idealized view of reality.

That list up there is my attempt to breathe new life into what has been left undone and eventually forgotten. It is NOT a list of movies I love, books I hope to read or songs I have sung. No, it is a list of all the projects I have started and am yet to complete. (For my own dignity, I’ve let off the date these projects began.) As you can gather… I am notorious for biting off more than I can chew-I blame it on (wo)mans natural instinct to create.

Well, since my crafting budget was cut [by me], I figured now would be a great time to finish the projects that I have been carting around the country (since the beginning of time) and which have taken up residence in several boxes labeled “UNFINISHED PROJECTS”. With each move our family has made I vowed that if the projects remained unfinished, I would leave them behind. Somehow I never could. Leaving a project behind is like making it to the Final Four and then not showing up to the game.

I’ve come this far, only to quit now?

Never!

Giving up is something I’m not very good at so until I get better at it….

I’m going to start chipping away at those boxes,

by finishing one project at a time.

So…. Do you have a list that you are trying to get to the bottom of? Do share. Depending on our progress, we can either commiserate or celebrate together.

Gwenevere

Gone Nutty

I WAS expecting our first paycheck of the year to be smaller than usual

– according to news reports, we were not the only ones.

I was NOT expecting the pay cut to DEVASTATE my monthly finances 

–as it did.

A few days were spent crying and worrying [over the huge loss].

One evening was spent frantically cutting [the family budget].

Sadly, my crafting budget was left on the cutting room floor.

5 HOURS were used to pour over pay stubs and bank statements,

– determined to find something I had missed.

I FOUND IT!

My discovery came at a cost.

In finding the missing funds I also found something

I hadn’t realized I was missing!

MY MIND!!!

(ok that’s not entirely true, I have had some sneaky suspicions.)

It's Here

It’s Here!

Winter can’t last forever

Spring is on it’s way.

Easter will be here shortly,

In fact, it begins today!

When Boy and I moved to Michigan, I learned through the example 
of my Catholic pals,that the Easter holiday has a season and it begins today.

Ash Wednesday

Lent rest in the top spot on my list of favorite holidays for many reasons.

In an effort to keep you awake, I’ll BRIEFLY list two…
...I mean three, of those reasons.

One

The longevity of the fast.

Give something up for 40 days and I might actually stand a

chance to stay the habit after the fast is broken.

Two

It is much easier for me to give something up

when I have a reason outside of myself to do so.

Three

Even though the fast may not be spiritual,

(saying no to food after the kids are in bed isn't exactly...spiritual),

the focus on one event [Christ’s 40-day fast in the wilderness]

for that amount of time is likely to bring inspired thought.

Yes, I am aware that I can use the same idea behind Lent to help me 
kick any bad habit and at any time of the year however I allow 
Lent to provide a crutch to my instability

and I like it.

Oh and

Four,

Lent

is a countdown to Easter…

…and spring…

…and a reminder that winter will

END!!!

A Symbol

Sneak Peek into one of the battles I'll be picking at book club tonight...

I finished Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" at precisely midnight and consequently fell asleep to my brain retrieving archived “thought files”. The last one I remember before falling asleep was this:

“...the lives of our people must become the most meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.”

This quote, coupled with the subplot of “The Lost Symbol” led me to one of my ever developing, thinking points which is that so long as we come to obtain truth (or something that is good), does the well from which it is drawn matter?

What say you?

WHO (do I think) I AM(?)!

In this the overcrowded blogoshere, where not just one but potentially millions of blogs share the same M.O., who do I think I am to add anything to this overpopulation?

ME!

And in my book, that is more than enough! 
(Except on days when I blog browse and I’m reminded that the world is FULL of CRAZY TALENTED people! Nice work CRAZY TALENTED people…I’m glad my blog is out here to offset the balance of superiority on the web.)

Hi. I’m  Gwenevere.

Wife to one. 

(I call him Boy)

Mother to three 

(Ren, Fish and Roo)

photo courtesy of www.amyjophoto.com

and Friend to….whomever will keep me.

(I go looking for trouble more often than I should and anyone willing to put his or her comforts on the line, in order to discover something new is welcome to join me. Do be warned however that if you do or say something that I don’t understand, I’m going to ask you to explain yourself and then I’ll probably follow up with a lot of questions. Just remember, I’m not attacking you, I'm just trying to understand you.)

For those of you who have followed me here from our family site, you know why I had to move and you know what Mom's Review was all about. What you don't know is why I chose this place.

To understand that, you must first know that I am a woman divided. I have many hobbies and interest and I just can’t seem to get to all of them fast enough and in trying, I often come out left feeling exhausted, stretched and broken which is far from the joy of accomplishment I am shooting for.  I’m living and learning and trying desperately to give proper attention to all of the things I love.

I do so LOVE many things.

Sew Many Books is an attempt to fix that and bring together all of what I love into one place. (I'd use facebook but they don't allow enough characters for me to get my point across) Although the title suggests that the focus will be on sewing and reading, don't be fooled….it is more than that.  Sew Many Books is a reminder that everything good can be found in One place. It’s my way of saying A LOT with the use of only a few words (a phenomenon not likely to be repeated on this blog, anytime soon.)

read ya later,

Gwenevere

P.S.  Consider this new blog to be a supplement to our family website. If you are only following one, you may miss something important.

The Big Reveal

Extreme Makeover:

WEB EDITION: The Big Reveal

Ok, true.

A switch to a NEW URL may not be THE BIG REVEAL anticipated,

but don’t give up on me yet,

this is just the beginning!

I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve and

they don’t all consist of smoke and mirrors. J

Archived book reviews, from “Mom’s Review”, can still be accessed though the link just under the site header. New book reviews, along with commentary on what I’ve been reading, tutorials on crafts and cooking, discussions on life and anything else I feel so inclined to share will all be posted here.

Even though there isn’t a whole lot to see here yet, go ahead, copy the address from your web browser, add a new subscription to your Google Reader, bookmark it, post it to your family blog side bar, sign in as a follower or do whatever it is you do to keep your finger on the pulse of the world and come back to visit.

The next post is the last of the “explanation” posts (oh wait there will be one more, but that won’t be posted for a while) and then after that all the pieces will be in place and the regular posting will begin.

Until then…

Gwenevere – fka: Mom (from Mom’s Review)