Mom's 60th Birthday

My mom's 60th birthday was this month.  I'd like to say that we had a big party to celebrate the event, but I can't.  Most of her kids saw her this summer at the family reunion though.  I wanted all of us to do something extra special, which isn't easy without money.  I knew we'd have to go with sentimental.  The only thing I could come up with was a project I call "Letters to Margie."

I am posting the letter that we sent out to all the contacts we could round up explaining the project:

Basically, we wanted them to write a letter to her.  They could e-mail it to me or send in by regular mail.  I planned to put it in a binder for her to read.  This project is much easier with Facebook.  I  was able to get a letter from an old high school friend and a college friend.  It was also easier because I am living here where many of her close friends from 20 years ago are.  I contacted family too.  Of course, my 3 brothers and sister contributed great letters.  Our kids did art projects and little letters too.  It turned out to be quite a fun project.  Here is the binder cover I made for the project:

I sent it and made her wait for my sister to come over before she could open it.  She loved the gift and of course wept tears of joy.  Here she is looking through the binder with my sister:

This wasn't her only gift though.  Right now, she happens to be on an Eastern European tour with her husband.  They are going to exciting sites like Count Dracula's Castle in Romania.  They keep posting pictures on Facebook and seem to be loving it.  

California Trip & Fam Reunion

Our trip to California and our trip within a trip (family reunion in northern Utah) was pretty great in many ways and a little difficult in a few others.  That is pretty much how life is meant to be I suppose.  The family reunion was amazing, but mainly because I LOVE being around my siblings, cousins, aunts & uncles.  Lexi and Jordan hadn't seen their first cousins (my brothers' kids) in two years.  Plus, they had second and third cousins there.  That alone was worth the trip.  They got to play, run, ride wave runners, get know each other and have a blast.  How often do your kids get to know their second and even third cousins?  Not enough as far as I am concerned.  We even got to stop in Utah and stay at one of my dearest friend's house two times (on the way up & on the way back).  I just love being around her.  My mom even tried to convince me that I should move up there.  I seriously considered it for a few days, but the reality of not liking cold weather, not having enough money to move anywhere, and that the schools really are better in Texas made me rethink this temporary moment of insanity.

Our time in California was nice too, except that it was a difficult month for my mom.  Her work brought in a new head director, who wanted to bring in his own team.  He started cutting the department heads, one of which was my mom.  That brought a level of sadness and relief to her as well as me.  She has been helping me financially, but I know her job was overly stressful.  She also had major surgery scheduled RIGHT after we got back from Utah.  She was in the hospital for a little while and then recovery time.  I am guessing that it is easier to relax and recover without little ones running around, but she has had plenty of practice since she had five kids of her own.  One other thing that happened was that my baby sister moved out of my mom's house.  She got an apartment with our step-sister.  I helped her move, especially since my mom wasn't supposed to be lifting ANYTHING.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time at the San Diego Zoo.  My mom renewed our annual passes.  My sister's boyfriend's band (Steam Powered Giraffe) had a contract to play 4 shows a day for 70 days straight this summer.  If we wanted to see much of her, we had to go there.  We got to see quite a few of their 20 minute concerts.  They are singing musical automatons.  Here is a picture of the kids with my sister and The Rabbit.

Yes, they are quite different, but the steam punk movement is spreading like wildfire and they have catchy songs, several of which my kids are still singing.  Here is one (double click for full screen):

  

3 Year Divorce Anniversary

Yesterday, at lunch, I realized it has been exactly 3 years since the divorce.  Of course, I made a celebratory announcement to my family.  In many ways, it seems like it happened long ago and this is the natural path of my life.  I have admitted many times that financial aspects have been and still are extremely difficult.  At this point, that has more to do with sticking with the same job and working from home, which is a topic on its own. Honestly, I don't mind being a divorcee, single mom, or whatever titles/roles that have evolved.

About a month ago, I was talking to another divorcee/single mom in my neighborhood.  She is coming up on her one year divorce anniversary.  We talked about how getting divorced throws your whole life, goals, future plans, dreams and ideas into a tailspin.  Most girls grow up with an image of how their adult lives will be.  Perhaps they want to go to college, get married, have a career, have 2 - 4 kids, live in a single family home, drive a certain vehicle, be a stay-at-home-mom, join the PTA, and/or just about anything.  One thing they don't want to think about is divorce.  When that happens, it is like a bomb goes off for your dreams.  At least that is what happened to both of us.  I was thrilled to be coming out of the whole thing with my two kids, but everything else lost its appeal.  There was no interest in hobbies, goal making, or career moves.  I functioned and kept going on just fine and often felt happiness.  However, now that I think about it, it sounds like underlying depression.

My friend asked me when this stage ended.  I wanted to tell her that it went away quickly.  I am not sure that it is completely gone.  I am interested in many things and hobbies.  I look forward to the future.  I just wish I had a little glimpse into it to know if some of these hardships are now just a part of my life or if I can move past these and on to bigger/better things.  Only time will tell.

June Sewing Projects

Sewing had almost disappeared from my life this month.  At the end of last month/beginning of this month, I decided to organize my fabric and sewing stuff.  I put it all into clear little bins.  Once it was nice and neat, I lost my desire to sew.  Every time I looked at it, I didn't want to pull it all out and create a mess.  Perhaps, I was also a little burned out from all that sewing last month.  It took almost the entire month for me to feel inspired again.  

I guess it was more than "feeling inspired."  It took an outside motivation. Now that we are going to California and then on to our family reunion, I realized a few days ago that I needed to bring something for the auction.  My aunt came up with the idea for an auction before our first family reunion, which was 4 years ago.  She thought it would be great for everyone to bring an item to auction.  The money would be used for our next family reunion.  It helps pay for some activity, food or whatever.  

The only auction item idea I could come up with was a skirt.  We have LOTS of kids/little girls in the family.  Many of them are close to Lexi's age.  Yesterday, I pulled out my fabric and wanted to do something slightly different.  I liked the hot pink and black fabric, but wanted the skirt to pop.  I decided to try the binding on the bottom.  After making it, I felt my auction item needed more.  Hair bows would be perfect. About that time, I got an e-mail saying that Old Navy was going to have a sale on their flip flops today.  Suddenly, I knew I had to buy some & put bows on them too.   

To be honest, I am not sure the skirt/bows combo will sell.  There are quite a few seamstresses in my family and most of them are probably better than I am.  I don't mind though.  That is why I made it a size 7.  Lexi can have it & will love it if nobody else does.  After looking at it a few times today, I decided that I should make another skirt with the binding for Lexi.  You know...in case she doesn't get to keep the one above.  I went patriotic.  See below.  

Now, I can put my sewing away and head to California.  Maybe, I'll get a chance to ask my mom to teach me some skills.  Who knows?

Summer Trip

I didn’t have any big plans for this summer.  Given the fact that I am poor, I thought we’d have a summer just like last one.  We would just stay here.  We could call it a staycation since we enjoy our community pools, splash parks and parks.  We live in a community that has AMAZING pools that are open in the summer.  The HOA fees are high enough that I want to get whatever I can.  That was my plan anyway. 

One night about 2 weeks ago, my mom called and asked if she could fly the kids and me out to Cali for the month of July.  I was quite exhausted when she called.  It sounded like a nice offer, but too difficult.  She told me to think about it and we could talk the next day.  

When I woke up, I felt differently.  I realized it wouldn’t be fair to the kids to miss out on the opportunity.  Not only would they be missing the vacation to California, but my family is having a big reunion at Bear Lake, which is on the border of Utah and Idaho.  Many of my siblings, cousins & second cousins will be there.  My mom & step-dad are driving their RV, so we would be able to go with them.  Sadly, we don't even get to see my brothers very often, not to mention cousins.  It has been 2 years since I saw one of my brothers and 2.5 years since I saw the other two.  My kids should spend time with their cousins.  

I decided that the main hurdle was my work.  My boss has recently bought me a new laptop, but I needed him to buy several different kinds of rather expensive software in order for me to use it.  I also needed a new computer case.  The laptop is unusually large, so finding a case isn’t easy.  Anyway, I decided to ask if they had any objection to the trip and listed my concerns.  They thought I should go and got busy buying everything. 

The tickets are booked and now I am figuring out how to complete my to do list along with getting ahead of 2 big work deadlines, entertaining kids this week, and everything else I normally do.  Lately, I’ve been working on not beating myself up for dropping some of the balls I am trying to juggle.  In some ways, this trip adds stress and in others it greatly relieves stress.  It’s all good.  

Birthday Sewing Month

May has definitely been the month of birthdays around here.  I think we've been invited to more this month than we have the whole school year.  For most of the birthdays, I've opted to pull out my sewing machine to make the presents.  I started with the dress above.  We had a close friend turning 5.  I decided to make her the dress using the same pattern that I used for Lexi's Easter dress.  I chose this pattern because I knew that I could pull it off.  Next, I had a pattern for a skirt for her older sister that was turning 9.  I saw that pattern and thought of her.  I made her two (navy & black).  While I was sewing the first one, I envisioned her pulling it on for a hot summer day.

Shortly after completing them, the invites started pouring in (not at all related to the skirts).  I decided to make more skirts.  The next two, I didn't happen to get a picture of.  They were for one of Lexi's good friends from school.  The pink/green and blue Hawaii ones were for Lexi's friend from church.  The peach and yellow ones were also for a school friend.  Of course, I ended up making two more for Lexi.  She is posing in one below.  The other one came from the scraps of my Easter skirt.  She asked if we could have matching skirts.  I guess we'll wear them to church in a week or two.  The last May birthday project was pink pj pants for one of my friends.  We have both been so busy that I haven't had a chance to give them to her, so it is a good thing she isn't a blog reader.  

A Few of My Spring Sewing Projects

After the post about being poor, I realized I should say that we're doing just fine when it comes to clothes and food.  I am doing a little consulting work whenever I can.  I feel lucky to live in an area where the cost of living is quite low.  When it comes to saving money, I do most of my cooking from scratch and I am sewing.  Of course, sewing can be expensive, but I watch for good sales.  Several of the stores around here have had patterns on for $0.99.  They also have sales on fabric.  Here are a few of the projects I have done.  Other projects are presents that I shouldn't post like my gift for Mother's Day to my mom. 

Lexi's Easter Dress

PJs I made for Lexi's friend

My Easter skirt



A Little Therapy

I just came back from my first and possibly last session of therapy.  That sounds a little negative, but I think it just might have accomplished what I wanted it to.  Let me back up…

A week ago, my ex-husband called to ask me if I would go to therapy with him.  I was quite surprised given the fact that we’ve been divorced almost 3 years.  The two years I was in California, the kids and I saw my ex twice.  Even for the past year, it has been sporadic.  For a while, he regularly picked up the kids.  Back in September, October & November, we were hanging out together with the kids.  For the first month, I actually toyed with the idea of something more (Contemplating Complete Forgiveness).  He had made very impressive leaps to change and I wasn’t sure if I owed it to him or myself to at least consider it.  By the beginning of October, I completely realized that I just didn’t have ANY feelings for him.  We were even bickering more than we had our entire 6 years of marriage. 

By December, we were hanging out less and less.  When his company asked him to start working in different cities in Texas he sounded thrilled.  I felt so relieved, actually ecstatic.   Once again, I would have the space I had been craving.  The kids and I didn’t see much of him for January, February, and March.  When he was around and wanted to, I would have him spend his time with the kids and I did my own thing (usually clean the house and catch up on work – How exciting am I?).    

In April, he asked me if we could have a “talk.”  I said sure.  He came over one evening and after the kids were in bed, he told me that he is now completely committed to the kids and me.  I felt like I had to break-up with him again.  I clearly told him that I just want to move on with my life.  Quickly, he became an emotional wreck and said goodbye.  Later, he called saying that he felt like he was losing me all over again.  He was crying and really didn’t want an honest response from me, so I listened. 

His next step was to ask me to see a therapist with him.  He wanted someone to help us communicate.  I am not at all against therapy, but I had to smile considering that he is always the one that doesn’t want to hear bad news.  He asked me about a therapist that he has been seeing for years (mostly whenever I asked him to).  The therapist knows my mom & sister really well.  I agreed to one session in an effort to provide closure for him. 

It went really well as far as I am concerned.  I am sure he is crushed, but he was finally able to listen to me say that it is over for me.  I sincerely hope he can move on.  He has come a LONG way in improving himself, even farther than I had ever dared to hope.  I am sure he’ll be able to find someone that can love him, appreciate him, and build a life with him, but… it will not be me.  

Signs of Life

There is a peach tree in my backyard. The previous owners planted it, but never got to enjoy it. When we bought the house, it was still very young. I think I was only vaguely aware that it was a fruit tree when I moved to California. When I came back last year, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much it had developed. Sadly, it was struggling from the harsh drought we had last year. It still managed to produce quite a bit of small peaches all of which were eaten by birds and insects. Through the fall it lost all of its leaves and looked like a big dead stick. I figured that it was pretty normal for peach trees, but I couldn’t help but worry that it just might have suffered too much from the drought. I wondered if it would make it.

This last year has been a killer for me too. When I started planning to move back, I knew it was going to be difficult/impossible financially. To be perfectly blunt, my salary and child support together barely cover the bills (and some months not even that). Meaning, there is NOTHING left over for food, gas, Jordan’s pre-school, clothes, oil changes, doctor appointments, or even health insurance (my mom pays for mine – the kids are on their dad’s). I also knew that no matter how crazy it was going to be that it was the right move for us. It has been an incredibly frustrating and stressful year. Many times when I have felt like I am in the darkest pit, someone completely unexpected has thrown a Hail Mary to me that allowed me to keep one toe still in the game. While I am extremely appreciative and astonished that I have made it this far as well as I have, I am beat down and tired.

In January, I started looking for another job and truly exploring other options. I quickly got some great interviews and even offers. I had to politely refuse. Overall, it wouldn’t be to our benefit. Paying $15,000 a year to daycare, plus worrying about child care options for all of the expected overtime and travel actually means I would still be desperately poor. Why would I want to be away from my kids and not even better off financially?

For now, I am kindred spirit with the winter version of the peach tree. I want to believe that there is hope for renewal and joy. I have no choice, but to continue living on a prayer.

Not So Silly Crush

I have a gorgeous cousin that is about 3 years younger than me. She is a complete ginger with green eyes and a smoking hot body. I was thinking about her today and about the fact that she got divorced about a month after I did. Soon after that, she found the love of her life. They were married a few months ago and I am very excited for her.

Today, I was thinking about soul mates and what makes him her Mr. Right. Then I remembered that when she was a child, she had a crush on Dom DeLuise. I had to laugh because her husband is a bald professional comedian and possibly Italian (not fat). Then I wondered if we are much smarter about what we actually want when we are kids. I thought about a few others and when I got to myself I suddenly froze. I had a crush on Bo & Luke Duke. –Yuck! I am destined to be single, because there isn’t any way I would go for guys like that.  I don't even know why I am admitting this - too embarrassing!