CHRISTEPHI

We've decided to start our no-spend week Monday and carry it through next weekend. Today was hubby's payday, so that gives us a chance to do our grocery shopping and other errands this weekend. When I was single, I was very frugal, mostly because I didn't have any money to spend! A shopping trip to Target to buy shampoo, deodorant, and other female necessities usually cleaned out what was left in my checking account each month. At that time I was only getting paid once a month -- talk about needing to budget well! -- so I simply had to plan ahead for rent, utilities, and groceries.  After I got married and started working full time, hubby took over most of our budgeting. Sadly, he's really good at it because his parents are so bad at it. We got all our (my!) debt paid off and saved up for some big-ticket items (a used car paid for in cash and a refrigerator).  We had a double-income then, and though living in Orange County, California is anything but cheap, we did pret...

I finally have some progress to report on my Ottobre SWAP.  There are actually six garments finished, but I only have pictures of four of them so far. You can see that the brown Maya blouse is lacking buttons. I didn't have anything suitable in my stash, so I'll "have" to go find some at JoAnn's.  I'm thinking something to match the medium pink in the trim, but we'll see. I almost never buy buttons...I usually always make do with what I have on hand. The cream Maya blouse is made of a vintage pillowcase I picked up at Goodwill a while back ($0.50).  It carries that oh-so-fresh smell that I love on my pillows and is super soft. I have a bit left that I'm going to hoard until just the right project comes up. I'm delighted with how dressy the little skirt came out! It's made of chocolate brown stretch velvet.  Miss M thought it was great fun to pet it like a kitten. Modeled by the lovely Miss M...and just before naptime (what was I thi...

When I was pregnant with Miss M, I was working full time in accounting. I didn't have to take care of anyone other than myself and hubby (although he's pretty self-sufficient too). Welived in a teensy weensy one-bedroom apartment in Southern California -- not much to keep clean...no weather to speak of...and hubby did the laundry.  So I don't remember this "slowing down" where I can't seem to get anything done during the day. In general, but even more so when I'm pregnant, I feel best about myself when I get at least a decent amount accomplished in a day. I hate going to bed at night feeling like the entire day was wasted 'cause nothing got done. Those feelings seem to be even stronger during pregnancy. Monday Miss M and I had dentist appointments. When we have something to do in the middle of the day like that, it seems to throw off our whole schedule and I usually don't get anything done at all. But I did pretty well considering...got a load of ...

Yesterday afternoon Miss M was asking for sweets  (nothing new there!), since I was in the mood to bake something, I pulled out a cookbook and handed it to her. "Find some cookies and I'll see if we have the ingredients to make them." She picked Frosted Fudge Brownies from the Taste of Home's Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2005 . (By the way, it's a pretty good cookbook, if you're in the market for one). I'm not a huge brownie fan or even much of a chocoholic, but I had (almost) all the ingredients and was willing to give it a try. I was short an egg, but it didn't seem to matter too much. I was also out of powdered sugar, but since we were doing our fortnightly grocery shopping last night, I figured I'd just pick up some then and frost the brownies afterwards. Miss M loves running the electric hand mixer and she did well this time -- meaning she didn't fling batter all over the walls. She was very excited to announce that "we're...

The night before last I was haunted by visions of a Regency Era dress for maternity wear and when I saw the flat bedsheet Miss M was using to make a tent, it told me it wanted to be that dress. So yesterday, when I was supposed to be working on my SWAP, I cut out a dress for myself instead. It turns out, a queen sized flat sheet is perfect for the Regency dress pattern (especially since I needed to hack off 5 inches in length).  I cut out the whole thing and the rest of the garments for Miss M...good thing too 'cause I was having a few contractions bent over on the floor like that. I'm listed as "high risk" for pre-term delivery (Miss M was born at 36 weeks), so I don't need to be having contractions at only 6 months pregnant! Now that all the cutting out is done, I won't have to get down on the floor like that anymore! It seems I woke up one morning, turned around, and my baby girl had morphed into a sponge, soaking up every bit of information and stimulat...

I don't know how people with kids eat vegan. I really don't. We're not vegan or vegetarian or anything, but I am having such a hard time getting Miss M to eat healthy. She won't touch vegetables or fruit. She eats bread (especially crackers and pasta) well. She loves cheese. She does moderately well with chicken and beef.  And she takes a daily multiple vitamin. But she has a serious sweet tooth (thanks to her father!) and is constantly asking for sweets instead of eating her real food. Asking for sweets, not getting sweets, mind you. Here's how the morning went.  She had a bite of my "midnight snack" last night -- a bowl of oatmeal -- and liked it. So she asks for some this morning. She stirs it, nibbles a bit, and asks for juice. Okay, so I give her apple juice. She's allowed to have 2 half-glasses a day (any more than that and she gets the runs).  Next thing you know she's asking for chocolate (as if I ever give her chocolate for breakfast)!  T...

I was inspired by the good ladies on the Yahoo! group for Ottobre (English) to make up a sewing plan for Miss M's Fall wardrobe.  She has a few things from last year that'll still fit her, but for the most part, she needs a little of everything. Since I'm due with #2 in November, I figured joining the SWAP with a deadline of having everything finished by the end of September would probably work in my favor. [caption id="attachment_5" align="aligncenter" width="499" caption="sewing plan for Miss M's fall wardrobe"] [/caption] So far I have all the patterns traced and cut out.  I got the final yardages in the mail yesterday and washed 'em up so I can cut out some garments today. I'm still not sure about the knit pants in my plan. I love them! It's just that I'm trying to not have to buy any more fabric than what I already have on hand, so I'm not sure I can find something suitable to make them out of. I did, how...