Crochet: Little Big Rib Scarf

She likes it!

The cold weather here is inspiring for my crochet fingers because we can actually wear/use things like scarves, hats and cowls.

I bought Jane a big, soft Cat & Jack fleece cowl (circle scarf) at Target for Christmas. She really likes it (and we've only lost it once so far -- thankfully the restaurant kept it for us until we realized it was missing and called to check if they had it!), but she also wanted a "real" scarf that you can tie like "everyone else" at school has.

I was happy to oblige. I ordered some Red Heart Gumdrop yarn on Amazon, just because I was itching to crochet and it was an "add on" item to go with some razors I restocked. I didn't have this scarf in mind, but once I had the yarn I figured I would use one of the skeins to make something for Jane because it's a fun, multicolored yarn. The colors are Rock Candy and Cherry.

I searched for different scarf patterns, mainly looking for something with warmth. You can never go wrong with Moogly, and her Big Rib Scarf's simple stitch pattern was no different. It's basically back-loop-only double crochet, and I just made the starting chain (actually foundation double crochet) shorter to suit Jane's height. As per the design I held two strands of the two colorways together with a large (J) hook for a thick, cushy and quick fabric. I did fewer repeats of the stitch to make a narrower scarf, just to keep the proportions right for Jane. I added crab stitch/reverse single crochet edging around to even things out and make it look a bit neater (that's a flaw of the crocheter, not the pattern designer I'm afraid).

Jane can wear the scarf knotted, like in the picture, or just barely she could fold it over and pull the ends through for a double thickness all around her neck. She ties it herself in any case. There's no way to label it, so if it gets lost at school it might not make it back to us, but I can always make another...

There was enough left on the skeins to make a quick, short cowl for Liv. She shouldn't really have anything tight around her neck, but I worry about the blowing wind and wanted SOMETHING for her. Plus she really wanted one! I don't have a picture of it yet, but it's just three rows of the BLO double crochet stitch, so narrower, and I sewed the ends together to make a cowl. I didn't have enough left to do the crab stitch edging, but that's OK for her.

Little "Big Rib Scarf"

Climate Acclimation

I grew up in southwest Oklahoma, which certainly gets cold, but I don't remember using lotion on any regular basis. When I was little I know I had rough elbows, which I believed to be from laying on the carpet on my stomach, so perhaps I did need lotion somewhat. But when I was in high school and playing basketball (season mostly in winter) if I did put on lotion I'd feel greasy and gross on my legs so I just didn't use it and didn't mind or need it. The water at home is very soft, so that may have had something to do with it too.

When I went to college a few hours north of home the weather was a little colder in the winter, and the water was much harder in the dorm. My skin revolted and was itchy and felt weird. I couldn't figure out what the deal was until my middle school-age cousin said "use lotion."

Duh.

I started using lotion, and it certainly made a difference. I don't really use lotion that much in Baton Rouge, just because of the humidity levels and my skin being OK without it.

An exception to this is my facial moisturizer, which I've been doing for years -- the Clinique yellow stuff moisturizer and in the last few years an eye cream from Clinique too, plus Argan oil that I dab under/in my nose as a preventive measure because even if my skin is fine sometimes my nose gets dry and gross.

In the ~2 weeks we've been in Minneapolis we've definitely stepped up our moisturizer game as a family. Liv always got lotion after a bath, but for Jane we'd kind of slacked. No more -- they're both slathered after a bath or shower, and I put a bottle of Aveeno lotion in their bathroom to use after every hand washing. (I used the rubber band trick to make each squirt only half a pump since their hands are so small.) The girls have also had some chapped skin -- Jane on her hands, Liv's on her cheeks -- and CeraVe ointment has done wonders, really making a difference overnight, and it's not too greasy once it sinks in. Shawn has been using it a lot on his hands too.

I can tell the difference in the air because of my skin after the shower. At home I can't always tell if I've put on my face lotion, but here my skin drinks it up and is definitely tighter/uncomfortable without it. And if I don't put lotion on my body it's a little itchy (not like the college-era itch, but that probably built up over a few days or weeks). I'll go through my moisturizer faster (that Clinique stuff isn't cheap), but it's worth it for comfort and skin protection.

No product in hair - washed last night.
Could use some actual makeup.

So far I'm having trouble remembering to sunscreen up, even though it's only our faces showing there's so much white from the snow and the sun is so bright that we'll definitely get burned if we're out for any amount of time. I sent a sunscreen stick with Jane for her recess and she puts it on her face herself. Such a responsible girl.

My hair can tell the difference too. I'm washing with random Pantene that I bought for Shawn (the siren song of the Target gift card if I bought four bottles was too much for me), so that's a little different, but I'm pretty sure it's the climate and air. My hair isn't as puffy and without any curl enhancing product it is going flatter and straighter, although not straight by any means. I think it will be easier to run a flat iron through and get a straight style to last. I need to work up the energy for that effort though.

(This has been an entry for the world's most boring blog post...)

A Bus Rider

Jane  has decided she wants to ride the bus to and from school. It's about a mile away, and bus service is part of free public education here.

Yesterday morning the bus didn't stop for her as it was supposed to so we drove her in. She was really upset, as upset as she was when she found out she couldn't start school on Monday. But she DID get to ride home on the bus, and that was "amazing," she said.

She told me about the ride and how her friend from class, Braden, helped her know where to go and so the other kids on the bus said "Braden's got a girlfriend." UGH. She thought it was funny and said he's her best friend.

Before he let her get off, the bus driver confirmed her address with me. I asked if it was the same place he would pick up in the morning. He said "no," shut his window and drove off!

This morning, it was snowing, and I was glad to not have to drive her to school on possibly slick streets. I still have to bundle up Livia and put her in the stroller, and we waited on the street for a few minutes since we didn't know EXACTLY where the bus would stop (the stop the school gave us is wrong, wrong, wrong).

We ended up having to run to catch the bus as it sped past us and stopped half a block down. I don't know if that's where it normally stops OR if it stopped because we chased it. The driver (not the same one as the afternoon route) acted like he didn't know there was a new kid to pick up.

Bureaucracy.

BUT Jane got on the bus and presumably made it to school, since the bus sign said her school name, I told the driver where she was going AND I haven't received a call that she didn't make it in! It's still so weird to be a step removed from Jane's school life. I know it's normal, but the weather and the newness of our living situation are combining to make some serious anxiety for me.

Also, I didn't get a picture when she got on the bus for the first time (since that happened at school). I didn't get a picture of her getting OFF the bus the first time because I was on the wrong side of the street (waiting at the stop the school gave us). And I didn't get a picture when she got on TODAY because I was running my fat ass down the road and then talking to the driver. Will try again today, but eventually I will get a picture of her with a bus ... or at least a picture of the back of a bus that contains my first born!

Edit to add:

Inflexible

Our lives have been shifted dramatically in the new year. I began on January 1 with a day of physical labor -- cleaning and preparing our house for a house sitter as we have moved 1200 miles away for a sabbatical season. We will be gone for six months, and I was packing and sorting and putting away -- laundry, scrubbing, vacuuming, washing, panicking. I haven't worked so hard in a long time.

Then we left the next morning, and my legs and entire body felt the ache of the previous day's efforts. We drove two long, hard days in the bitter cold. It was about 20 degrees when we left Baton Rouge and it got progressively colder as we traveled north. Only today has the temp gone above freezing, almost a week later. (Incidentally the weather has been fine and clear throughout, and it's going to get snowy later this week ... not sure how we'll fare driving in that, but time will tell and we'll be extra careful/stay in mostly.)

My biggest concern hasn't been the packing or even the effort of cleaning -- it was today, taking Jane to a new school for the first time, leaving her in the care of new people, people I'd never met, and in a building with no one I know. (Her school at home has a great church friend as a 5th grade teacher and other children we know, plus I'd been able to meet her teachers and see the classroom first.)

When we got to the school, however, we were told she couldn't start today and would have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest. In the end this is a better thing for everyone. It will give the teacher some time to prepare (not much but some), and it was one more day of winter break for our girls.

But we've known we'll be here, living in this apartment, for months. Why it couldn't have been done in advance I don't know. We had to go through a district placement office, and apparently that MUST be done in person, which Shawn was able to do Thursday, the day after we arrived.

I did not react well in the school office when they rebuffed us. The guy looked at us like we were crazy (which I agree, it's a crazy proposition, but it's what the placement office had led us to believe would happen, so we had prepared Jane). She was SO mad. It was awful and uncomfortable, while we sat in the room and Shawn filled out even more (duplicative) paperwork. Jane felt inflexible, and I felt the same.

After some time to process it, and an impromptu discussion with the principal who asked about Jane as a person and student to help her decide which of the two classes she might fit into best, I felt better and thought it would be fine to wait a day (or longer). Jane has already been in Kindergarten for 70+ days, and she'll have many more left because this school system started a month or more later than back home, meaning Jane will continue another month of school long after her Kindergarten friends back home will be on vacation (meaning her summer 2018 break is going to be a month shorter!).

But I'm embarrassed by how frustrated I became and how that frustration and aggravation were visibly apparent to everyone. I hate how Jane reacted, and I didn't handle her disappointment well since I was poorly managing my own irritation and disappointment.

I have to learn to be more flexible, but I'm not sure how. I am having plenty of opportunities to practice (and fail)!

Teacher Gift: Crochet Coffee Cozies

I made two coffee cozies for Jane's teachers at school. Originally I was going to give bigger Target gift cards, but then the room mom asked for donations for a big group gift card, so I put that money toward that and whipped up these to give with smaller CC's Coffee gift cards. I slipped them into cardboard CC's coffee sleeves and added "Thanks a Latte" (I love a good pun, and that's a good one, right?)

The snowflake cozy is the same style as the sister squad hats I just made -- front post double crochet. So it's super thick and plushy. It took me FOREVER to get the snowflake pattern right because I kept screwing up. This was done with a graph I found online for a simple snowflake, so basically a new pattern. Once I got the hang of it and switching colors it went OK. I love the look of it.

The star cozy is a quick pattern from I'm Frayed Not that makes a very stretchy cozy. I added the crab stitch/reverse single crochet in white at the top and bottom to lend a Christmassy look. The star was a One Dog Woof ornament pattern that I did very fast this morning to sew on -- next to the snowflake one a plain red cozy didn't look special enough.

With an empty coffee cup that I used to be sure the sleeves could go on and off easily (imagining the cups full and hot!).

Sister Squad Hats

Crocheted hats using the same pattern as these. Free pattern from My Hobby is Crochet.

Playing "puppies" while wearing their new hats

New mug from Target -- don't need it. Wanted it. Bought it. (Should save it for my stocking...)

Out of Place

We've lost a library book. I am about 75% sure that I returned it to the library, but they can't find it. And I can't find it anywhere in the house. It's a big book, so not one that could slip inside another one (we check out tiny paperbacks sometimes that I fear will get lost that way). This is the third time this has happened, and every other time it's been on the shelf at the library. Not this time (so far). The search continues. It's Jane's card so no late fees, but I could just renew it I guess and do that indefinitely? I don't know. Aggravating. I can always throw money at the problem and just pay for the book. It may come to that. Need to do the sweep a few more times though.

Something even more aggravating is the fact that Jane was left out of a Kindergarten-wide girl party. All the girls in her grade were invited to a cookie swap or cookie decorating party. Two girls were left off, supposedly accidentally, and Jane is one of them. It's apparently a tradition and each grade does a separate girl-boy party around Christmas.

The organizing mom, a woman I've felt the side eye from (and given to), said they sent home invites in their backpacks (nope) -- and suggested Jane threw it away (double nope) and that they emailed everyone, but they may not have had my address since teachers won't give out full class list emails. NOPE, as I've emailed this mom directly, inviting her kid to Jane's birthday party (to which she didn't respond -- and I sent TWO invitations in hard copy, since I had to change things at the last minute) AND I've met this mom a couple times -- once saw her in the orthopedic center and we spoke to each other. She knows Jane and we're in her actual class, so this feels like more than an "accidental" oversight.

BUT I'm sure it was. We're not thought of any more than a speck of dust to these people. At least it feels that way. Certainly feel out of place, although Jane holds her own with her classmates, is loved by her teachers.

I am fuming STILL, 24 hours later. Only found out about it because of Facebook, and I've lost too much sleep about it.

That Old Habit?

The world is burning, and the tax bill is going to break us all. (Handwritten edits?! In a 500 page PDF?! To be voted on in mere hours?!)

But here are some things:

 

Jane's Kindergarten class has a Christmas tree. I'm surprised they used that verbiage, but that's what it's called. They asked every family to make an ornament to hang on it -- something that represents the family and their traditions. I thought and came up with this -- our hands creating a tree that Jane could draw on and add stickers to show things that are our Christmas traditions. Originally I thought of hobbies too -- like a skein of yarn picture from one of my yarn catalogs, some woodworking contraption from one of Shawn's catalogues, etc. But Jane didn't want to wait to take it in and wasn't really interested in that either. She didn't want photos of us (I was thinking small, as if they were ornaments on the tree), so this is it. There are books because we do the Advent book-a-day tradition, plus a candle, Baby Jesus, an angel, etc. I'm not sure what all Jane drew. The ornament is big, since our hands are real-size, and I figured TOO big -- I had to send it in her backpack in three folders put together with binder clips so it wouldn't get banged up too badly. Jane said the teacher said it was perfect, so I guess the tree is big enough to hold it.

My question -- what if a family doesn't celebrate Christmas? 

I never got my free Starbucks birthday drink that I normally get via the app. Perhaps it's because I do this with the stars that come off the bags of coffee I buy instead of inputting them in the Starbucks system? CURSES!

A completed crochet doll dress, front and back. It's not exactly like the pattern, which I got from a book. I had to make up my own top using the suggested stitch. I followed the top's pattern but got this weird almost E-shaped piece and the next direction was "sew shoulder seams" without an explanation as to what the seams were. Maybe I am a visual learner, because a picture could have really helped. Instead I just started my own top right into the skirt part. It worked out fine, although could have been better fitted. I didn't do great on the starting chains, so put a Christmas ribbon around her waist for the pictures. If we can find a solid purple ribbon to sew onto it that would be good. The buttons were $2 from Walmart, but otherwise the cost was nil. I used Gran's thread, which is why the colors are kind of weird. The original pattern had three sets of four ruffles in the skirt in shades of blue, but the designer crochets tighter than me, because it would have made my skirt too long. I could have stopped at the dark purple, but didn't realize it until after I'd done the pink. Oh well. It's fine as it is. I should take better pictures for my Ravelry page. These were fast on my phone because Liv was on the move. She's been a terror -- broken three or four Christmas things, and we haven't even had the Xmas stuff out for a week yet!

Fin

Perhaps my final NaBloPoMo post ever. This month has been exceedingly difficult. I'm not getting much pleasure out of anything right now, so why should blogging be any different?

I have a few crochet projects to get on -- one is almost finished -- so those will be upcoming posts. Our family is taking a pretty big adventure in January, but I'm not sure if I'll write about it in real time or after it's over. Something to consider.

Enjoy your December.

Recent Thoughts - A Hodgepodge

I've subscribed to the Lenny Letter since its inception. I'm older than the target audience, but there are some good reads, and I like everything is by women and for women. Not a huge Lena Dunham fan, and she keeps having missteps with the media and just being plain wrong about things. This week I read this article Women Are Supposed to Give Until They Die. The author talks about how we're taught to believe men need more alone time than women (fathers vs. mothers is really what she's getting at). I found it pretty weird, as a woman, as a mom and someone who needs more alone time. But I also really identify with her points about getting and taking that alone time away from home and allowing the relationship between dad and kids to develop without mom/my interference.

I check Facebook WAY too often -- just as a default I'm bored, or I have five minutes or let's see what people are posting. (I also look at Twitter, and it mainly serves to make me really mad about what's happening in the world and hate all the people I follow on Facebook -- so that's a fun twist?) Anyway, on Facebook I keep typing and deleting "funny" comments. Just personable stuff. For example, a friend posted on another friend's question about Santa/stockings about what she puts in her kid's stockings. And she listed chocolate as a "necessity" -- like "I put necessities: toothpaste, socks, chocolate, etc." And I laughed and commented how funny that was. Then I deleted it instead of posting. The world is on fire, and why do I need to be funny or relational with people?

On that same post I have opinions of my own -- like we don't "do" Santa at all ... which reminds me I really need to tell Jane's teacher about that, although Jane says she wants to pretend he's real and won't say anything to the other kids at all ... and I have tried the "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read" thing that was the original poster's main question. But in the same vein, who cares what I think? (Those two links are old blog posts where I write about that exact thing, so it's clear I think *someone* cares ... just not people who actually know me?!) I am the weirdest, I know.

I do a lot of computing on my Kindle -- reading Facebook, Twitter, Feedly, etc. I haven't been reading books as much lately, but that's another story. One thing that's driving me crazy if the Kindle keyboard. I have a Fire HDX 8, which I got for Christmas last year, so it's a 2016 model. The keyboard works fine EXCEPT when I put "t" it will often, like 9 times out of 10, switch to the numeral keyboard, so it types a 5 and then if I just keep touching letters it actually puts the numbers. AND it isn't smart enough to figure out "oh, she's touching keys that would make a word if they were letters" and I have to backspace, carefully hit the t and re-type everything. I've searched some and haven't found anyone else with this problem. So I don't know what to do about it. I looked at the Love My Fire site a bit, but it didn't really talk about that.

I cleaned my engagement ring this week. It was SO gross. It needs a professional cleaning, but even my at home efforts made a huge difference and it's sparkling again. There was so much gunk, oil and dirt underneath the stone I had to pick it out with a toothpick after I let the ring soak in warm, soapy water. I'm not a vain person, but seeing the shiny rock on my finger is a nice boost and makes me happy in a stupid, simple way.

THE WORLD IS BURNING.

Cast AWAY

I took Jane to the doctor this morning, and her cast was taken off. Everything looks good for her bone healing, and the doctor showed me the X-ray and all the places where her body has made new bone. It seems like a lot and is doing well.

She has a brace/splint type thing to wear and give her some security as she gets used to having the cast off. Her wrist is very stiff and she doesn't want to move it or really act like she can use her arm. She was more active with it when the cast was on!

We have a few exercises to do, and he said she will also just figure it out and get back to normal. The brace will be for about 4 more weeks, although she doesn't have to wear it all the time after this first week. I'm sure she'll be back to her old be-bopping self in no time.

One drag thing is that her skin was all irritated and kind of dirty. I'd assumed water proof cast meant it could get wet. We NEVER dipped it in water -- just didn't cover it up when she took a bath and the hand would get wet when she washed. They said we didn't let it drip dry enough, although I'm not sure what that means or how you do that other than let the thing hang out. I didn't press it. Should have stuck with the keep-it-dry method, as her skin was fine after the first cast was taken off to change to this one. I'm hoping some air and a little lotion will get it all back to normal. Poor bubs.

A Birthday

My birthday was fine. Just fine.

Sundays are my busiest days. I do a lot of work for the church during the work, but I'm doing stuff on Sundays and get the sweats worrying about it all working. And just juggling kids and everything too.

Livia is/was sick so she and Shawn stayed home. It was just me and Jane. She was fine during church and Sunday school (plus the extra children's choir 10-minute rehearsal). We met Shawn and Livia for lunch at the newly opened Mexican restaurant on the way home. It was tasty food but terrible service. Like really insulting guy. Not sure why ... or why it had to be that way on my birthday lunch.

Livia wouldn't nap so I had to hold her the whole nap. Then I started on my afternoon computer church work. I had a church meeting at 4, which interrupted my day's flow. And I hadn't been grocery shopping yet over the weekend because of going to a birthday movie on Saturday night. (I liked that, even though it was hard schedule-wise).

Before I left for the church meeting Jane and I had a weird, huge fight. Sucked the fun out of the whole day. I ate a piece of the cheesecake I had made on my way out the door, although they sang and ate some themselves after I was home.

I got to talk to my mom in the evening, which was good.

Today I took Liv to the doctor -- she has an ear infection in the right ear. The third one she's had. Doctor said if she gets five in one year it's a problem that will need a different solution (I'm guessing tubes in the ear). Gotta go google "prevent ear infections" ...

Thirty Seven

I made this cheesecake for my birthday.

Unboxing Day

We brought in the Christmas tree last night. Shawn got it set up, as well as Candy Cane Lane, which is what we call the candy cane-shaped lights lining a part of our walk way toward our front door. Today I got a wreath from Trader Joe's and put that on the front door. We got a few girl-specific things out of the boxes, which are now sitting in the sun room by the back door. The felt Christmas tree, the Little People nativity set, a musical book are out and being played with.

But there's a lot more to do.

Unfortunately I don't have the Christmas cheer or spirit or will to do it just yet.

I'll get there -- for the girls, for Shawn, for my family if they make it for Christmas, for myself -- eventually.

But I sure wish my sense of anticipation didn't feel like a sense of foreboding.

Maybe I'm just exhausted and out of sorts from a broken night of sleep (Livia has a cold so was up half the night and would only sleep while nursing), from a week's visit from my in-laws, from a wanna-be teenager six-year-old with more sass than I can handle, from a million other tiny little cuts that combine to make me feel like I'm bleeding out...

Hope your holiday unboxing goes better than mine.

Parking Ticket

Today we went to New Orleans -- my inlaws wanted to go to the WWII museum, and the girls are always up for a kids museum, which is just a couple blocks away. We had to drive separately, so I took the girls directly to the kids museum, and we met up for a $$$ lunch.

I parked on the street in front of the kids museum instead of in the garage for the WWII museum, mainly for convenience. Although in hindsight it was nothing but convenient (and would have been cheaper either way to just pay the $10 for garage parking)!

I paid at the meter and put my parking stub in the window on the dash board. When we got back to the car, exactly two hours later there was a ticket. I was incensed! Then I looked and it had been issued an hour earlier -- so halfway through my paid parking time. The meter reader hadn't seen my stub! I went ahead and paid for the next two hours I needed to go eat lunch, and my new stub was much bigger. That makes sense why the officer didn't see the smaller, square stub if he's always looking for a big rectangle. But DAMN!

The ticket is $30, so not life threatening if I end up having to pay it (although I could have parked four times over in the garage given what I did pay for street parking -- $12). But it's the principle of the thing, since I DID in fact pay for parking.

There's a way to contest it online, but I want to send my credit card statement too. I scanned the ticket showing I did pay. Will get everything in order, uploaded and contested. Hopefully I can have a resolution next week or so -- not sure how long these things take. The hearing is December 20, so there's a bit of time.

UGH! Aggravating.

Gratitude

I have trouble being grateful. In fact I'd say I'm an ungrateful ***** a lot of times. But I also recognize my great privilege and wealth, and a ridiculously easy life, all things considered. So, a partial set of my blessings, for which I am thankful:

• Jesus and salvation, the Church and my church
• My beautiful, lovely, funny, smart Jane Pie
• My precious, gorgeous, clever, snuggly Livia Baby
• My husband and our marriage
• Medical care
• Healing bones
• Climate control -- air conditioning 90% of the year and heat the other 10%!
• Hot water and indoor plumbing
• Warm bed
• Tenure and Shawn's satisfying career that provides for us so well
• INTERNET
• Tasty food and the ability to prepare it
• Dishwashers and other modern-day appliances

Wishing you a pleasant holiday weekend, and this video about Thanksgiving's establishment as a holiday:

Pre-Holiday Preparation

Today was a cooking day for me, with the girls getting to go with Daddy and grandparents to the Knock, Knock Museum. They had a great time, and I got everything done. Our dishwasher is getting a workout! Today I made:

• Deviled eggs (these are ridiculously hard because of the shelling -- I cannot do it well to save my life)
• Cranberry salad
• Pumpkin pies (one regular, one sugar free)
• Rice Krispie treats
• Mashed sweet potatoes (debating putting marshmallows or pecans or both on top when I bake tomorrow)
• Cornbread dressing, Gran's recipe

Tomorrow I have to make

• Turkey - going to inject and roast it ... this is Aunt B's best tip
• Cook the dressing and sweet potatoes
• Corn casserole
• Green bean casserole
• Warm rolls
• Boil and mash potatoes
• Heat gravy
• Whip cream

What am I forgetting? Hopefully pictures tomorrow, although you could look at years' past to see the same dishes.

I'm going to try to take Christmas card photos of the girls tomorrow in matching sweaters. The light's actually pretty good right now in the back yard, but I don't have it together to get it done. There's a sale on Amazon cards ... 50% off and it includes free envelope personalization and printing on both sides of the card ... through November 25, so Saturday. Surely I can get it done by then.

A Photo Wall of Babies

I extended my wall of photos in the hall across from Jane's room. When Jane was 1 I made the photo canvases of her -- basically printed 12x12 prints and modge podged them onto canvases. Also glued strips of scrapbook paper to the sides then dabbed black paint around the edges. Some of the photos look better than others, and we've loved the Jane ones for 5 years now. They were hanging in a straight line on this wall that whole time.

I finally got around to making Livia's versions. Hers are mostly form her first year too, although I think the photo in the graduation cap might be just after 1 year old. Jane's are ordered from youngest to oldest left to right, and Livia's are ordered oldest to youngest left to right.

We mount them with 3M Velcro removable strips and they hold just fine, and allow for a little adjustments if they're not perfectly straight. AND we can switch the order of photos later if we want.

(I thought for sure I'd blogged about this when I made Jane's, but I can't find a post so maybe not. I'm not even sure what online tutorial I used to make them the first time. For Liv's I just winged it.)

Disingenuous

People ask me about Jane's school, and I have different answers for different types of people.

Some people I know are very into private school, and they would get a positive, we love most everything about it and Jane's teacher answer.

Other people I know are not as enthused about exclusivity, so I'd give a more nuanced answer, talking about how we're not sure if we fit in or if we want to.

Both are technically true -- we especially love her teachers, but we don't mesh fully with the culture so far and certainly feel out of place. JANE doesn't feel out of place though, which is a good thing.

I think this is true for anything I experience -- I change my story to fit my audience. Is there any authenticity? Am I being just a people pleaser? Although really who do I please with this particular example? Who cares?

Livia Did It

At a kids' birthday party today a dad understood Livia's name and told me about a podcast that once made a T-shirt called "Livia Did It" and how it's still a catch phrase in his current podcast. After some searching I found the podcast, but it seems the T-shirt was a one-off fundraiser in 2014. Darn, since that's a pretty cool shirt.