Jennifer @Home

Suit up!

It can only have been folly that induced me to order a business suit on sale from the online catalog of a middle-of-the road department store.  It all started when I realized that the two suits I own and like -- the ones I bought when I started full time work at Birmingham-Southern College -- were just a bit snug.  Not so tight that I absolutely couldn't wear them, but restricting enough that I felt they were sending the wrong messages ("I really love cookies," for instance, or "fascist undergarments required").

As it turned out, I didn't need to wear suits much at BSC, but I got good use from them at conferences and special professional occasions.  Now at UA Early College, I more often wish I had a suit to throw on, so I did the aforementioned tomfoolery catalog shopping.  I should have known better than to order something that came folded in an oversize brown envelope.  I let it hang in the closet for two weeks before I had a free moment to try it on and see that while it fit, it also sent the wrong messages ("I heart big shoulder pads," not to mention "smart menswear-inspired tailoring yet surprisingly shapeless when worn").

Returned it to the store and bought myself a dress.  Many happinesses!  Given how I usually dislike shopping, this feels like a small victory.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, Marc and I started SouthBeaching and suddenly it looks as though the two older suits may start sending more positive messages again sometime soon.

 In the meantime, an invitation to the pool has caused me to look more objectively at my take-the-kids-swimming attire.  Let's see... will it be the decade-old suit that I really like(d) but that has mysterious bleach stains across the front?  Or that wonderful maternity-belly ensemble?  It's like walking into your own home after vacation and realizing all of a sudden that the living room furniture arrangement just isn't right after all.

Thankfully, Lands End was running a swimwear sale, again, many happinesses!  When the swim date rolls around, I'll be ready.

Symptomatic of a busy life, perhaps, that so few brain cells are left for these basics.

Eve, for her part, would live in a swimsuit if she had her druthers --

 

Mmmm... smells like peppermint!

Having seen everyone through various minor winter illnesses at our house, I did the long-promised project with Isaac, making bath fizzies with peppermint essential oil... yummmm.

We both love the frogs and geckos.  They're nice and large (soap-size -- 4 to 5 oz.) and fizzle nicely in the tub.  Kids come out minty fresh without the winter itchies (avocado oil goes in the fizzies to moisturize.)

This has been a pretty quiet month on the crafting front.  I've placed an order for some Amy Butler fabrics which are absolutely beautiful and for which I have a few project ideas.

My writing is going quite well (music history stuff) and boy will I be glad to finish isn't leaving me any that much time for the handcrafts I love to do. 

So let me introduce ~~Free Theory~~:  free time and free energy come in waves, and occasionally there are beautiful, magical convergences of the two.  Like when you can see both Jupiter and Saturn at the same time.  I'm looking forward to trying out a few new batik ideas at the next convergence.

In other news, it snowed this month!   Those of you in northern climes may find this amusing, but here's the BIG EXCITEMENT photo.  If you (click the photo to enlarge and then) squint, you can see snowflakes in Isaac's hair:

Oh, another thought on Free Theory.  I decided to be rigidly controlling but its-for-your-own-good super mommy for a couple of weeks this month and imposed a regime of only-natural snacks and no extremely limited TV.  Which meant that the afternoons were full of endless games of Monopoly, LOTR Monopoly (yes, it exists), Candy Land, Carcasonne (a fantastically fun game that medievalist-me loves too).  And then I got real about my writing again, and then TV started again, so we're now just trying to strike a happy medium.  If I can get an hour of writing in the morning (during Eve's nap and Isaac's school) and another hour or two in the afteroon (this is where Isaac and TV come together... mea culpa) then I've had a good day.  And then there's STILL time for those games. 

Really, I'm such a lucky woman.  I am extremely fortunate to have the kind of (part-time) job that employs my professional training yet lets me be home with my kids while they're small (I know what a huge luxury this is), a flexible degree program that will see me finishing my PhD right around the time Isaac starts all-day school and Eve could start preschool (in other words, perfect timing for me to make a move to full-time work), time to play games and read stories, time to plant seeds, and --occasionally-- time to make very pretty things from silk and wax and essential oils and paper and what-have-you.

Now I wonder if all the above sounds rather narcissistic --- the point is, there are times that I feel kind of strange about the time I spend working on my degree not knowing exactly what the professional opportunities will or won't be when the time comes... and at other times I feel a bit sad over how thickly scheduled so much of my time is.  It's hard to find time to rejuvenate, to think about the big picture.  And that's when I remind myself how lucky I really am.

It's a good life. 

An extremely good life.

P.S.  Isaac, who wishes he had his own blog, wanted me to show you this:  he recently made a robot from materials in our recycling bin.  He had SO MUCH FUN making it.  Its name is Q-twothousand-Z-eight.