I made a bag.

I've officially been off work for 5 months now. A busy, over scheduled, fantastically wonderful 5 months. I've not been this calm in a long time. I'm busy with things I want to do now instead of cramming everything into the couple of days off I had. I'm busy with fun activities, parent activities, lunches with pals, doula clients, and a long laundry list of things I actually like to do. And, even after all of that, I still have a bit of spare time.

Because of the change in our budget situation I had been looking for ways to save money or at least cut back a bit. When my darling friend McKenna's baby shower came along I decided I'd make her a blanket. So I drug out my sewing machine, which had not seen the light of day in many many many years, and started sewing. I had made a blanket for my daughter when she was just a few weeks old and it became "the blanket". It was the that was toted around until she was almost 6 yrs old. I knew I could trust myself to sew a straight line and know it would hold up over time. After making McKenna's blanket I had some fabric left over so I made a bunch of burp cloths too. It was fun. Can't say they were perfect in anyway but I had a good time making them.

I decided to see what else I could make since there are a million free patterns online. I found a simple bag pattern that I thought I'd try. Low and behold, it worked. I made a bag. Look for yourself. It even has a cute little lining....






Now I know its not a Kate Spade bag or anything, but after making it I realized a bunch of different ways I could change it up, add pockets, etc. What I realized most, however, was that I was kinda proud of myself. Crazy little pat on the back. Maybe quitting my job was the perfect way to find my inner Martha Stewart.

Tetris was the key

I've blogged before about my son's college challenges. How he had no real interest in going other than he knows he should and can't see any fun in it at all. Well last friday, that all changed. He came home from school and was dying to show me something on youtube. It was a video his band instructor had shown him that day.

Marching band isn't going so well this year. This is the first year in a long time they have had to let the Freshman march because of low numbers in certain instruments. A few months into the season they are having a hard time getting it perfect. Mrs Watzke then found this video on youtube and showed it to the kids to get them to realize how important lines and being exact were. What Mrs Watzke didn't know is she inspired my son. He is now DYING to go to college. Here is the video.



If you're not a video game fan, the band is doing theme songs from different video games. But what got Hayden was the side bar next to the video on youtube. This marching band does great shows. Hip Hop, video games, Michael Jackson, Green Day...you name it, they've covered it. He was fascinated. He kept saying "Watch this part" and "Look at that!" After we spent an hour watching their shows, he looked at me and said "I had no idea college marching would be fun like that."

College night is this wednesday at Hayden's high school. He has picked up the map of where everyone will be located, picked out the schools he likes, looked to see if they have marching programs and numbered them in order of importance to him. Talk about a 180 degree turn. Honestly though, if a California marching band is what it takes to get him excited, so be it. I'm just thrilled he finally gets it.

Writing, not just for breakfast anymore...

I've been doing a lot of thinking about books and authors lately. Anyone who knows me understands that books are a huge part of my life. I remember becoming lost in books as early as 2nd and 3rd grade, so saying I love to read is an overwhelming understatement. It seems over the last month or two I've been paying particular attention to authors. I was lucky enough to meet Diana Gabaldon (which I've learned I've been saying her last name wrong-she's Spanish not Irish so its pronounced Gab-al-don as in stone) and watched numerous interviews with JK Rowling. Now I know many of you rolled your eyes when I just said JK Rowling so lets just get this one thing out of the way...

Yes I'm obsessed. I think her face should be on Mt Rushmore with Lincoln. I think we should erect monuments to her in every library on the planet. If you believe in a God you should believe he/she/it put Jo Rowling on this planet to make the world a better place. I could go on for hours, days, YEARS about how perfect the Harry Potter series is. Yes, I do think the Potter series could cure cancer, end world hunger and facilitate peace in the middle east, and NO you can't change my mind about that. However that is not what this blog is about.

Authors are an interesting breed of people. They live in a world where they get to make up worlds. They live surrounded by people who aren't real, except in the case of biographers. I am fascinated by them, wishing I had the talent to do what they do. Well, most of them anyway. I was in Target a month or two ago and was looking through the book section when I came across two books that were a continuation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Some woman had gone to see the 2005 version of the movie, the one with Kierra Knightly, and fell in love with the story. She had never read the book or seen any of the tv/movie versions other than the one before and felt she needed to continue the story. I was intrigued. I received the books as a gift just a few weeks later. Oh my hell they are HORRIBLE! This woman has no idea what she is doing. She took one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and turned it into a harlequin romance novel. She has these people having sex every third page and on the two pages in between they talk about how and where they are going to have sex. She put no research into the life of a 19th century couple, doesn't use proper 19th century English, and don't get me started on social etiquette of the time. Horrific stories. What perplexes me is this...WHO decided to publish these books? Jo Rowling was turned down over 10 times for Potter when she first tried to publish it. Dan Brown was laughed at when trying to sell his first book. Clive Cussler was told no one would read his books. Hell even Stephen King was ridiculed. Not that these authors, with the exception of Rowling of course, is a literary god but they can write a good book! They have a story to tell. A well researched, well thought out story.

I understand that not everyone can be a literary great and just because you sell a lot of books doesn't make you great either (Hello Stephenie Meyer...are you listening?). I understand there are only so many Jane Austens, George Orwells or Earnest Hemingways. However if I, a literary novice at best, can tell the difference between a good book, great book and a straight out horrific book why can't someone whose job it is do the same? Authors are a dime a dozen, but the good ones, the ones who stick with you, are gold. I know, my opinion really doesn't mean much and I'm sure somebody somewhere likes the disgusting Darcy books, but its my blog so I get to say what I want to. And what I guess what I want to say is Go Read A Good Book!