Sunday Happy

Did you get any of that polar vortex snow yesterday? When I woke up there was a dusting of snow and ok, I wasn't thrilled, but I wasn’t devastated. I do live in Vermont so it’s almost expected. But now I am officially done. It is getting further into May and I just want to be able to not wear a freaking jacket anymore or have to worry about all of my plants. Be 55 degrees for a while. That is not to much to ask.

Another week has come and gone. The time is just flying away here. Besides the day trip to Shannons early in the week and the 5 bean bag chairs we bought for Judah (The guy has been wanting one for so long so I figured he deserved a little something something that isn’t stupid for being such a great kid. We ended up getting 5, and giving him 2 and each of the other kids one so they don’t just steal his), the week wasn’t that much different then all the weeks past. The mr and I went for a hike/fish adventure one day, had lunch with the littles everyday, and have started some outdoor projects around the apartment building. We had a sleep over with Judah which was awesome just because that kid is awesome. Bean bags and burritos. We know how to live! And then we went on a good hike with Meg and her littles down threw the woods and found us a river. Oh, and we emptied out Mileys room and the mr built her a new lofted bed. That took up some time for sure. And carpet bowling with Barb, Judah, and Coco. Life is great when you can spend an hour laughing at knocking little wooden bowling pins over.

It is Sunday again and it’s Mothers day! Happy day to all the Mamas! We have a few things on the agenda. A lunch with the littles and there mom then a good walk with my mom. Then maybe if we have time I might try to take a bike ride at some point. Also we didn’t have time to do our weekly deep clean of the house yesterday so we will be spending a few hours doing that today. And I need to brush my hair. It’s been a hot minutes and if I don’t do it soon, I’ll be rocking the dreads again. Doesn’t my life just sound so exciting. Haha! OH boy.

Internet links from the week.

-Welcome to the Culinary Barter Economy. I have always been a hug believer in trading food for just about anything. It just makes so much sense.

-Barb and I are making the plans now for next year! Cycling the tulip fields.

-These cabins. Soon, soon we will be able to build out own.

-It’s not your imagination. Allergy season gets worse every year. Every freaking year. And more and more people are getting them. I used to not have any allergies and a few years ago, BAM, face felt like a wet punching bag. So yeah, allergies. Suck.

-I did this in middle school science class and thought it was there greatest. I Think I am going to do it with the littles. Stay-at-home science project: Grow your own rock candy

-Did I tell you the mr got a bunch of pet shrimp? Yea, not my thing but whatever. This reminded me of him, because he also likes to makes things out of paper. Make Your Own Paper Prawn Using This Pattern Designed by Artist Lisa Lloyd

The Super-Easy Way to Figure Out When Your Grocery Store Is the Least Busy. I never knew, and it’s a little creepy, but I used it.

-Don’t kill you trees. I see it all the time, especially the mulch “volcano”. Drives me nuts. 4 Common Mistakes People Make when Caring for Their Trees

-Speaking of trees, these tress are freaking amazing! Rainbow Eucalyptus Are Real-Life Neon Trees

-The 'Spaceship Earth' Documentary Stars Share Tips For Surviving Isolation. Or you can watch the movies Biodome. Pauly Shore will tell you how to be.

Pictures from the week.

-C

Sunday Happy

Can you actually believe that it is May? It still seems unreal to me. But you know what is so real right now? Spring. IT is so so so amazing out, like the best. Some rainy days and some sunshine and warmth, green stuff everywhere. Flowers, cut grass, gardening..I have been pretty stinking happy.

Another week gone by week. So many walks, hikes, and bike ride.(The mr and I are the officially the family outdoor motivators. Who doesn’t want to hang out with us?) Our first walk of the week was with Barb, Cam, and Jackson. We strolled to the lake, screwed around for a while, Jack meditated on driftwood in the water then fell in. Went back to the house where I proceeded to give Jackson my first haircut of the week and I did an ok job, especially because I was actually fixing the hack job of a cut he tried to give himself. Ha. The next day I went over to Erins and proceeded to give the second haircut of the week to Coco. That went alight, I just gave him a cookie and hacked away. Again, not bad considering he was fidgeting and kind of screaming at me the whole time.

After that the week was full of more hiking, another round of cupcake baking this time with So Bean, paperwork up the butt, and research on tires and cellphones. Blah. I hate shopping research. Oh and the parking lot. Need an idea for something to do with some littles, Find a vacant parking lot, get a bouncy ball, and let it rip. The mr and I took Judah and Coco to the empty school lot and spent almost an hour chasing around a freaking tiny bouncy ball. It was the highlight of all our week. That and the long phone conversation I had with a cop about Mark. Mark is officially a college grad (I know, CRAZY!) And has basically been hired to be a state trooper (so many Super Trooper jokes) She called just to talk about what kind of person he is and to make sure he hasn’t murdered anyone. To bad I told her he is just a fucker and should not be hired to police ANYBODY HA! Just kidding, I made him sound even better then he really is. HAHAHA.

So yeah, other then that, nothing to crazy. Just staying sane with lots of running, biking, a little work in the studio, gardening, and making sick playlists on Spotify. Oh, and I gave my third haircut of the week to myself. I was in the kitchen cutting up rhubarb with the kitchen scissors and the urge hit. Gathered my hair into a bunch and just snipped a few haggard inches off… Not my best work but I don’t really give a shit. 😁

Today the mr and I are leaving super early for a hiking/fishing excursion, then we are going to check out Shannon and her mans house that is under construction. We need to make it back in town to do a few errands and to go check on the littles. Plus I really want to spend at least an hour in the backyard getting all the dirt under my fingernails. Going to cram as much stuff into the day as we can.

Interent links from the week.

-The Man Who Runs 365 Marathons a Year. I don’t know about a complete marathon, but I get it. I can’t stop either.

-How I stumbled on this???? Whoa Diddy, whoa.

-I really appreciate a good shelve. GETTING YOUR SHELVES TOGETHER.

-Passive homes are way cool. A Passive House Primer, Ultra-Energy Efficiency Edition

-What To Do When People Don't Practice Social Distancing. Screaming “Stay the fuck away” might not be the right move.

-I guess I am a person that wants a bean bag chair now. The Original Bean Bag Chair

-And here I thought I was fancy with my empty milk carton house.These downloadable architecture projects let kids build their own cities and skyscrapers

-This weird trick can make an onion taste like an apple. What do you think of that!?

-Art out of nature. Stones, Leaves, and Shells Whorl in Hypnotic Land Art by Jon Foreman

-SNL Nails What It’s Like to Grocery Shop Right Now. Dasini Water. SO TRUE!

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

The past week was a blur.

A friend sent me a meme the other day that really hit home for me. It said “I wish this would all be over so everyone would just leave me the fuck alone” Yup.

And a few days ago I accidentally dropped my new toothbrush into toilet. But I am ok. And in case you are wondering, I had a new toothbrush on standby so my teeth are ok too.

How are you holding up? Going crazy? Are you getting shit done? Are you loving it or hating it? Or are you just getting use to it but then freaking out about how use to it you are getting? That last is me. Usually what happens is I will be feeling calm and fine but then I will read or hear something totally fucked on the news (I listen to NPR for most of the day so it’s my own damn fault but I have been switching my listening habits to mostly music or podcasts. I have made some pretty sick quarentine playlists for sure.) and the emotions go haywire again. But I think mostly, for me, I am just feeling kind of, well I don’t know, wonky? Itchy? Irritable? All of the above, plus a little scared, sad, and crazy. But also happy, grateful, and calm. So many feelings and I am not good with a lot of feels at once. Thats it! I am a EMOTIONALLY OVERLOADED!

Anyway, the weather, so nice! Good thing to because besides taking the littles almost everyday out for their daily hikes, or being able to walk around the block with my mom (10 feet apart), either the mr or I might end this thing living up in the tree house. Hahaha. No, we are so good, we just have our moments that may or may not end in obscene hand gestures and lots a vomit. 😁 But seriously, the tree house. It’s our contingency plan. The mr has spent a fair amount of time up there carving spoons or just sitting, just to give me space. (he is so nice!) And I have discovered the amazingness of headphones. I don’t usually have a need to wear them but this week I busted out an old pair and realized how amazing it is to not hear anything other then music. Really loud music. It’s like being alone. Ah, the small things.

Today. Sunday, in case you were wondering. It is not a great day for me. It’s 4 years ago that Sean died so I am emotional and cranky and blah. So what I am going to do is go for a run, call my mom, text all my siblings that I love them and then tell everyone to leave me the fuck alone. The mr and I are going to take a drive, find some woods where I can be with no one else around hide away for a while. Then we need to go grocery shopping. I am down to my last serving of carrots and ran out of my St Patricks day stash of cabbage. I am really hoping people have calmed the fuck down and haven’t emptied the produce section by the time I get there. I will lose my shit if I can’t get some carrots. Not today. Just have the fucking carrots.

My internet looking from me to you.

-Read a few and you will laugh and feel better about wanting to punch a wall or bite your partner. The Social Distance Project

-Fuck It, Let Them Eat Cake. If it makes things ok, even just for a little while, then why the fuck not.

-I could totally be quarantined here. Detailed Minimalism’: A Designer’s Bucolic Cottage in the Welsh Countryside

-There's No Better Time to… Use the Oldest Thing In Your Pantry. Seriously. I went through my pantry and have been using all the oldest stuff first. I haven’t even restocked half of my beans because I am trying to use up all of what I have. (I have like 12 different varieties so I have a tone of beans) IT feels good.

-This is very important. How to Not Completely Hate the People You’re Quarantined With.

-STARTING SEEDS INDOORS: HOW AND WHEN TO START SEEDS. I started a bunch of stuff this week!!!!

-You wanted to know, you just didn't;t know you wanted to. The Wild but True Story of How One Writer Figured Out the Origin of the “Triscuit” Name

-As a potter and a perpetual hand washer anyway, my hands are always dry as fuck. This is one of my favorite hand creams (I use it on my face at night in the winter too) Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream Also this. Hemp Hand Protector

-How Nature Has Become America’s Saving Grace As We Shelter In Place. Just remember to take care and maybe consider what will happen if we don’t take more steps and keeping this planet healthy….

-Still have a couple rainbows and mugs for sale on the web store. Going to throw some rainbow mugs up there later this week too. stem+node Ceramics

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

How are you doing? You good? You taking all the care you need to with yourself and other? Good good. Keep positive, wash the hands, and think about the fun things one can do will maybe being stuck in one spot for 2 weeks or so.

Which then leads me to think about all the babies that are going to be born in 9-10 months from now.This would be a great time for you to learn to knit a baby blanket or something…And that is where my mine goes. Hehehe.

So yeah, this week has been a week for sure. Nothing really feels normal at the moment which is a hard feeling to processes. The mr and I are still doing the things we need to do, but with caution and know that at any minute, things could change. But that is life in the great scheme of things so we do and we live and that is that.

At the beginning of the week I did manage to go for a lovely walk with Megan and Barb, which I think for the next few weeks at the very least, is going be our mode of interaction. We also managed to get to my moms for a dinner and some good trash talk with the boys. Then on Tuesday morning, I had just got home from a very nice walk with the mr and clumsy me, I opened a desk drawer a little to forcefully and pulled it completely out. It dropped on my foot and everything fell out. No big right? Well after I picked up the contents of the drawer I was left with a giant puddle of blood. The drawer hit my toe so hard it ripped my nail completely out of the toe and split the toe in half. A toe disaster if ever there was one. And me being me, decided no doctors (I probably should have gotten stitched). Needless to say, me and my foot were in a bad place. I couldn't walk and it fucking hurt like crazy. So yeah, that really screwed up my weeks well but it’s doing all right now. I am walking, I am doing normal stuff, just keeping a close eye on my bandaged toe and hope that it doesn’t fall off.

Other then that, I did work at the studio and managed to move over a thousand pounds of clay. I did a little grocery shopping (that was madness and pissed me off. No flour anywhere. So if you are a person that bought flour that usually doesn’t, good for you. I am excited for you that you are planning on baking. But please don’t be an asshole and not use it to only toss it in a a few months. Make sure to USE IT!), and we stopped in on the littles to suck in there youthful happiness. I did end up at Costco this weekend at opening time. That was something. The line out the door alone freaked me out. But I was lucky. Got in, got my flour, and got out. I was hearing of talk from fellow shoppers of how much toilet paper they could fit into there cars and it seemed like people were starting to get toilet paper crazy. I was worries a t.p. riot was about to happen. But what I want to know is how much freaking toilet paper do people really need anyway? Are they building bunkers out of it? I mean you can’t eat it or do much of anything other then wipe your ass with it. But apparently when shit starts to hit the fan, people want to clean the shit up with something and toilet paper certainly does clean up shit. HAHAHA, I am so funny.

So yeah, crazy times. I have just been trying to stay put as much as possible which is easier then you think when for a good chunk of the week I could barely walk. And honestly, the social distancing thing, well I have been living this life for a long time now. I am very, VERY, good at social distancing. Not that a pandemic is anyway shape or form good, I do love the excuse to not have to talk to anyone or get close to anyone, or be social at ll. Stay the fuck away! But that’s my normal so this is working for me. HAHA!

And now it is Sunday. A day to decompress. l I think the mr and I are going to pack up a lunch and go find an easy hike in some woods. I can walk well enough, it’s been gorgeous out and the woods, they be calling to me. And then I need to run to the library because while everyone is talking about all the binge watching they are doing right now, I am just super happy to read my ass off. I see days ahead, me sitting on the front porch with a big cozy sweater, humongous cup of hot beverage, book in hand, feeling the spring air on my face.

I am really too good at this.

Stay healthy and responsible friends!

Internet from the week.

-These are very good rules. The Etiquette Rules of Coronavirus Grocery Shopping: Be a Good Person and Follow These!

-Covid-19 Fears Shouldn't Trash Your Zero Waste Efforts, I worry people will say fuck it and go all crazy being wasteful for the foreseeable future. Lets not do that ok.

-I definitely bake when I am stressed. Good thing I keep a pretty decent stock of ingredients on hand, just in case I need to bake 14 days of cakes, breads, and cookies. Quarantine Baking in Times of Crisis

-Impacts of Technology During Mealtime. One of the top arguments of every person I know.

-What would happen if the world reacted to climate change like it’s reacting to the coronavirus? Seriously. Why aren’t we freaking completely the fuck out about global warming?

-Oh how I wish I had a cabin in the woods right now. This All-White A-Frame Cabin Mixes Rustic and Scandi-Modern, and It’s Dreamy

-Bread goals. Twisting Vines and Leafy Botanics Carved into Crusty Breads by Blondie + Rye

-Speaking of bread. Introduction to tangzhong. On my list of things to try these next few weeks.

-Dolly Parton Wants to Recreate Her Famous Playboy Cover Four Decades Later. You do you lady.

-Do you use vegan butter? We Tasted 10 Vegan Butters in the Name of Science

Pictures from the week