My Oasis

Since the bathroom is on hold until replacement materials arrive Tuesday and Wednesday, I've had time this weekend to do some crafting and should be able to do more tomorrow.  But first I had to reclaim the hobby room.  I moved the bathroom supplies to the boys' room and rehung the hall pictures to get them off the floor.  I was then able to put away craft supplies that had accumulated on the project table.  The end result is I, once again, have the perfect escape.

As I age, I appreciate more and more the benefits of having a hobby.  When I'm paper-crafting, I think of nothing else but the project at hand.  All the other "stuff" in my life drifts away along with the stress.  It's the only time I'm purely "in the moment."

Of course having a dedicated room makes the whole experience even better.  A simple 10' x 13' room has become my oasis.  And I'm extremely grateful.

Taking Full Advantage of Technology

The bathroom project has been going on for two weeks.  By now we should have been within a few days of completion.  But late morning yesterday, everything came to a screeching halt.

After the tile man and general contractor left, I decided to take a look before the plumber and mirror man arrived.  I'm glad I did.  First I discovered the wrong counter top had been installed.  It's supposed to be a matte finish, but we got the glossy version.  And then I noticed the tile work on the wall with all the plumbing was entirely unacceptable.

Our designer is off on Fridays, so I ended up communicating with one of the owners.  After stumbling through an explanation of what was wrong with the tile, it occurred to me I could take a picture with my iPhone and send it to him.  I had never sent a photo with my phone before, and rarely use text messaging.  But I quickly figured it out and the photo expedited everything.  No one needed to come to the house to see the problem.  The plumber was quickly cancelled; the counter top was reordered; and the tile man was added to next week's schedule.

Although I'm more tech-savvy than most of my friends, I still have a lot to learn and don't take full advantage of all my tech tools.  Yesterday was a real eye-opener.  I'm now aware of a whole new way of doing business and I'm not afraid to use it.

Gene Pool Surprises

Elliott checking on the tree frog
living in one of their EarthBoxes.

I'm usually only interested in my gene pool when it comes to my health and that of my offspring.  For example, when my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I immediately researched the odds of me or my children getting the disease. But, recently, I've been reminded that we inherit more than bad or good health.

This past spring, I introduced Emily to the EarthBox and she agreed it would be a good way for Elliott to see how vegetables grow.  Elliott "took the bait" and now has his own EarthBox with watermelon plants.  But he's not the only one who got excited about gardening.

Emily's crop now includes three EarthBoxes filled with vegetable plants and several large pots of herbs.  And, not deterred by heat and bugs, she plans to expand her crop next year with a raised garden bed added to the mix.  Clearly Emily got her paternal grandfather's gardening gene and it was just waiting to reveal itself.  Jim's dad was a professional vegetable farmer.

This whole process has been a revelation to me.  Emily will be 33 in September and this is the first time we've seen her connection to Jim's dad.  It's nice to know that, besides health complications, pleasant connections to our past can also surface at any time.

Itching to Craft

Just as I'm beginning to revisit an old hobby, counted cross stitch, my Martha Stewart Halloween punches arrive in the mail.  I'm on the seasonal auto-ship plan, so I had forgotten they were due.  Then, beginning at 11:00 P.M. Central Time yesterday, one of the home-shopping channels started a 24-hour crafting event.  As a result, once again, counted cross stitch is quickly being abandoned.

I'm now itching to spend hours paper-crafting.  Unfortunately, I'll have to wait. The hobby room is directly across the hall from the bathroom that's being redone.  For days, carpenters, tilers, electricians, and plumbers have been traipsing back and froth from the front door to the bathroom.  There's more than enough traffic in that area of the house without me adding to it.  Plus, a lot of supplies for the remodel are being stored in the hobby room, making it a big mess.

But there's crafting time in my future.  Since this school year I will not be watching Jonah on Mondays and Wednesdays, I should be able to craft at least one morning a week.  That's not nearly enough time for all I want to do, but it's more than I had last year so I'm very excited!