My Mama

Rita Alsop

September 23, 1951-June 18, 2008


Service Times:

Vigil @ St. Dominic Church 7:00pm Friday, June 20, 2008.
Funeral Mass with Dinner to follow @ St. Dominic Church 10:00am Saturday, June 21, 2008.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (KJV)

Mom's cancer didn't go the way we'd hoped, but there are things to be thankful for.

• Hospice is a great organization, they're helpful and efficient and unfailingly kind.
• It's summer, so I can be home all day, every day, to help out and squeeze in every moment of time available.
• Anna has so many friends and so much family that she just thinks she's getting to do lots of fun fun things. I already have her scheduled through Wednesday.
• It's summer, so every day the three Alsop girls can go to the pool when Dad gets home from work, and then go for sno cones.
• I'm married to Matthew, who'll let me spend every day, all day, at my parent's house.
• Susan gets to stay home another week.
• I really like Father Wesley.
• I have a lot of friends who love me.
• We get the chance to say things many people don't get to say.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Gatorade

Since Matthew's pretty much on his own these days, I like to throw in little bits of helpfulness where I can.

Tonight I made 260oz of Gatorade in about 10 minutes.

Here's the (over?)simplified recipie.

1 packet kool-aid

2 T lemon juice

3/8 tsp salt

1/2 c. sugar

2 qts water

Mix it up, pour it into saved bottles from the real stuff, and you're good to go!

Public Service Announcement

Even if it's a really good prize for going in the potty, even if it's cute....

It's never a good idea to give a 3 year old a harmonica.

yea/yeah/yay

I've seen much confusion in the blogosphere about the appropriate use of these three words.

On Friday, Matthew's daily calendar of "random things people say incorrectly and how to correct them" (a wonderful gift that we really enjoy, because we are nerds) addressed this very issue!

Here is the answer:

yea/yeah/yay

"Yea" is a very old-fashioned, formal way of saying "yes," used mainly in voting. It's the opposite of-- and rhymes with--"nay." When you want to write the common casual version of "yes," the correct spelling is "yeah" (sounds like "yeh"). When the third grade teacher announced a class trip to the zoo, we all yelled "yay!" (the opposite of "boo!"). That was back when I was only yay big.

Thank you, nerd calendar. And Katrina, for knowing us for who we really are.

Pickles, jam, rocks, and hard places.

I did NOT see this coming.

Today, after the 3 accidents before 10:00am...we had no more accidents, and also, no successes. She just didn't DO anything. (we were in the pool for a while, so I guess I'm hoping she did there?) I am hydrating the child! I'm really confused.

Tonight, when she really really didn't want to sit on the potty, I thought, OK, so we're not there yet, no biggie, and explained that if she didn't want to use the potty, we'd need to put a diaper back on. But no, she doesn't want to wear diapers, they're for babies. She wants her soft panties. She doesn't want to get the panties wet, she doesn't want to sit on the potty. She, apparently, wants to not release anything from herself in any way.

I'm so glad we started potty training! Before I felt bad just because she was 3 and in diapers...now I can worry about her actual physical and emotional health too! Yay!

Bored yet?

Day 2

Woke up dry, then three accidents, then our last visit from Parents As Teachers *sniff*

She did her "chore" (putting away the clean silverware) in record time and without complaining, so when she said she wanted to watch something, I thought that would be fine. Once again, watching TV on the potty.

I think we'll get some pull-ups in town today.

End of Day One

No more accidents, one more success. We were playing in the pool when Anna suddenly said "I need to go potty!" We ran in. Panties have stayed dry since.

I passed parenting duty off to Matthew when I got home, so they're in the bathroom together now.

My fortune from tonight's dinner:

"Your short term goal will soon be realized."

So I'm expecting smooth sailing from here on out...

continued

After the third accident put a temporary end to the plastic panties, I just plopped her on the potty in front of a movie. (Not a Mama's finest hour)

1 hour later, we have contact!

Now we're off to the pool.

Potty Training...The first few hours

Anna had a terrible start to the morning. She woke up at 6:30, and stumbled, crying, into our room. She was still exhausted, but it was light outside, so she thought it was time to wake up. She crawled into bed with us, and instead of falling asleep, she cried and kicked us, so she was sent back to her own bed with many tears. I finally went in to talk to her, and ended up falling asleep with her in her bed. We woke up a few hours later.

I had been thinking that if we could just get a good start to the morning, we'd start really trying to go on the potty. Today I thought, we're never going to have a good opportunity to do this, so we might as well just start now.

We've been wearing panties and sitting on the potty every 15 minutes, and we've had two enormous accidents accompanied by tears (Anna's) but nary a drop in the potty itself.

Hmmm....

A warning

If you enjoy reading chick lit for fun, for a laugh, for easy conflicts and happy endings--AVOID "Certain Girls" by Jennifer Weiner.

This is not to say it's a terrible horrible book. I'm sure it's good, but it's not what I was looking for. It's NOT "literary cotton candy" It has sad in it. I think maybe books should come with warning stickers or something.

Blankie on a limb

I went a little crazy with the last baby blanket that I made. I'm sending it to my cousin Janie, who's pretty fun and funky, so I hope she likes it. I do, but it is strange. Very Dr. Seuss.

It's light blue with stripes of green fuzzy yarn.

Here's the whole thing.

Here's a side shot so you can see the fuzzy texture,And here it is on a test-drive.

In other news, I have 16 items on my Summer To Do list. I'm trying to be relaxed and ok with not getting it all done.

Today I've been working on the photo projects for the summer. Each year after Anna's Birthday I go through the pictures for the year and pick a picture from each month to print in an 8x10 for her big album, and 4 4x6's for the hall. It helps me feel better about not ever taking professional pictures. I've just finished choosing and cropping and they should be at Wal-Mart in a couple of days. Then I put them in the album and frame and I'm down to 14 things on the list.

If only "Potty Train Anna" were as simple.

An appeal

I'm doing another tech program next year at school. Today we had to sign up for the equipment that we'd like to have in our classroom, and one of the things we could choose was a digital camera, a nice-ish one, for $250. I'd love to have some cameras for the kids to use, but they really don't need nice ones, and it occurred to me that I could donate our old camera to the school, and that would be free! Then I thought, if we have an old camera that we've replaced with something fancier, surely other people do too... If anyone would like to donate a camera to our school, let me know. I'll be glad to help. Or maybe you'd consider donating one to a school close to you? I know they'd appreciate it and use it. I could go on and on about the benefits of technology in the classroom (I just did a presentation on it), but you already know that, right?

Just an idea I had. Let me know if you'd like to help.

Lainey's blanket

Now that Lainey has her quilt, you can see what it looks like.

I enjoyed making it, though I'm not super happy with the binding. It's very uneven in one spot, but I didn't get it back from the quilter until the day before we left, so I was up late finishing it. Sewing the binding on by machine is quicker, but I think the hand sewing is a nicer finish, unless I get much better at the doing it by machine.

I also learned doing this quilt that I don't like doing borders. Once I get the main piecing done, I don't like having to do borders too, but they do look nice.

And I really want a machine so that I can do the quilting myself too, but I think that's a long way off.

The pattern is from a quilting magazine of Mom's...They called it "Atlantic Chain" It's a simplified version of an Irish Chain, done in purple and a white with purple flowers, with a Leopard print back, per Lainey's request.

Here are a few shots.

Marg and Lainey...I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing, could you take one and send it to me? Thanks!

A post without pictures

The other day I was in the shower when I heard Anna say


"Say Cheese, Mama!"







Then we had a conversation about how we don't take pictures of people when they're not dressed.



When did she learn to turn on the camera?

Summer!

It's not quite here for me yet. School was out on Tuesday, but then Wednesday I had to start packing up my room, since I'm losing it to 6th grade next year and moving into the Library. This morning we gave our presentation for the Tech program we did this year, I'll find out in the morning how we did. Hopefully we'll the the full amount of $, since I already bought the tickets to Oregon. :) Then this afternoon Abby came out and helped me finish packing up the room. Tomorrow I need to "check out" officially and get all of my papers signed, and THEN, it's summer. I'm thinking I'll take the weekend totally off, and then get started on my summer projects, etc. Well, except that maybe I'll try to potty train Anna, which is on the list.

I'm going to go ahead and post an unflattering picture of myself here, because it made me laugh so much to see it. Matthew took these on our trip this weekend, when I fell asleep in the car...

Should I maybe add *sleep* to the list?

Anna's Art

Last week Anna drew her first picture that was more than random squiggles. Lions, and birds in the sky.

And here's her self-portrait.

Spinning...Or...Is this why I'm late for everything?

Here's my today so far.

Get home from school, talk to Poppa Marion, note that Anna is in a really good mood. Mentally thank Katrina for her prayers. Look at the computer for a minute and listen to the LOONG annoying song Shauna posted. Since the song is STILL going on, and Anna's happy, go ahead and get out the yarn to choose next project. Play yarn with Anna and decide what to make. Notice fabric on table to make blanket for another baby. Anna wants to sew. OK, lay out blanket and stitch it up with Anna on lap. Turn right side out, decide it needs to be ironed before top-stitching.

On the way to the ironing board, remember that Matthew will be home soon for lunch, and will be more interested in eating than top-stitching. Lay blanket on ironing board for later. See Washing Machine. Remember that it's laundry day. Better start a load. Check dryer, still has work clothes in it. Take work clothes to bedroom to fold. Can't put them on bed, bed is not made. Make bed.

Change out of work clothes, notice the bathroom is messy. Tidy bathroom. Ask Anna to help pick up clothes off of the floor and put in hamper. Anna is Clifford, notices new books as she crawls across the floor with a t-shirt in her mouth. Anna asks for a story. Read a story. Read "just one more". Explain to Anna that Daddy will be home ANY MINUTE. Try to make her laugh and distract her by pretending Daddy will be a big hungry bear. Fail. Listen to Anna whine and cry for another story.

Walk by Anna's kitchen and pick it up quickly while thinking that she should really be doing it herself. Go into the kitchen to start lunch, can't start until counters are clear, begin to tidy kitchen. Find strange cup/spoon/yogurt contraption by Anna's highchair. Take it apart to wash it. Anna flops on the floor crying "Don't do that to my birdhouse!" Apologize. Start lunch.

Ask Anna to pick up her shoes and put them away. Ask again. Count to 3. Put screaming child on time-out. Cut up an apple, get out carrots. Talk to Anna about why she's on time-out. Give hugs.

Tell her to put her shoes away. Ask again. Count to 3. Put screaming child back on time-out.

Pour drinks, set table, give Matthew lunch. Talk to Anna about why she's on time-out. Give hugs. Tell her to put her shoes away.

Go with her to her room to help put on her slippers. Change diaper. Anna tearfully asks for a nap. Put her in her bed and put on the Cinderella story tape. Notice on the way back to the kitchen that the washer's done. Put clothes in dryer, start new load. Matthew is done with lunch. Sit down to eat. Think about the last 3 hours. Wonder how 3 hours can feel like 20 minutes.

Blog about it.

Woozy

I've been fusing plastic bags together today. I opened the door and I sure couldn't smell any fumes, but you know how my nose is...I feel a little lightheaded and nauseous.

So if you want to fuse plastic--GOOD VENTILATION is important--otherwise it's very easy. Here's the tutorial I used. I recommend just using one piece of parchment paper that you move around under the iron, it's easier to see that way. And when sewing it's a little easier to sew with parchment over the plastic, some of the plastics really clung to the presser foot. You can just pull the paper away when you're done and feel very cool and professional.



Anyhoo--here are pictures of what I made.
A bagand a little pouch (why? what on earth for?)

This one has the same awkward shape all of my bags do. When I'm making bags, I always do it just like Megan showed me, with the folded in bottom. I wonder if I should try a different method sometime. This is what usually happens. I sew the sides together, fold in my corners, and think about a nice wide bottom. Then I sew it all up and turn it back right side out and the bottom is too wide and the bag is not deep enough anymore. And when sewing plastic--you can't rip out your stitches to redo it.

Plus for this project--I used some of the bags that I had from Mexico that I've been saving forever because they had Spanish on them and I couldn't just throw them away. Downside--proof that if you save something, eventually you will figure out what to do with it.

Also here are photos of the pale star blankie I've been working on. A shot of the whole thing and a close up for colors. I used up several scraps on this one, that made me happy. The very pregnant mama at my school was happy with it too.

I'm currently deciding what to start next. I have 4 more babies on the list, but I kind of want to crochet something different, so maybe I'll sew for those babies.


Now maybe time for a glass of water.

Shakespeare's Birthday

Sonnet 23

As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put besides his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharged with burden of mine on love's might.
O, let my books be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more expressed.
O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.