Thank god it's not Octuplets!

I have finally given birth to two new handbags! It was a slow and sometimes painful labor but a very happy delivery! I'm now very much at peace with my five handbag designs (my babies) and can start spending the majority of my time sewing instead of designing. Don't misunderstand me, I love the design stage but it can take SO LONG to come up with something I like, and I HATE tearing out stitches to restyle again and again. So, now I can move into some zen like state in front of the machine and I finally get to work with all of the gorgeous fabrics I have piled up! I can't wait! Check out my Etsy shop and watch my inventory grow and grow!

Here are the new "twins", the Dilly Tote and the KT Handbag

Remember when you were little and the elusive SNOW DAY was called, giving you and all of your friends a wonderful break from the every day drudgery of school? It never occured to me back then, of course, how such a cherished event could completely upset the time-space continuum of each affected parent.

We are exactly 1 hour into another "snow day" although to call it a snow day is not accurate at all. Yes, we have snow on the ground, some 40 inches I think, but it's not the impressive snow depth that has cancelled pretty much every school in the state...it's the frigid cold. It's so cold that, well I can't think of a metaphor that even comes close to describing what it feels like. I'm afraid to let my dog outside for fear his thin little ears or his poorly insulated weenie will freeze off before he can get his business done and scramble back inside.

I've already made the official Snow Day Breakfast of waffles and bacon (very yummy and oh so warm) and am doing my best to avoid the cleanup because it's too cold to stand in front of the sink for that long. Now I have to figure out what to do with the monsters for the next 6 hours. UGH. I really needed to immerse myself in the KT bag today. I finished the prototype (well, the second generation prototype) yesterday and it's good, but it is nagging at me for some minor changes and I SO BADLY want to do that.

Right now it seems like both boys are content to be lounging in PJs and unbrushed teeth, staring into various monitors/tv screens with expressions close to those seen on a good ol' fashioned zombie movie. Now the big moral question of the day...do I quietly just let that continue until one of them starts to grow mold, or do I corral them into some sort of Snow Day Extravaganza of Fun and Merriment that doesn't involve venturing out into the frozen tundra? Or maybe, in their minds, playing games on the internet & xbox all day qualifies as the perfect snow day activity, especially when still in your PJs with unbrushed teeth. That's probably close to what I would have done when I was their age.

So, I've found the perfect win/win situation. They can be zombies and I can be the crazy handbag lady all day long! I am going to come up with a marketable KT handbag today if it kills me. I'll even take a picture for you when it's done!!!!

Don't stop me now

It's possible that I'm slowly getting the hang of this, or it could just be that weird short-lived phenomena that happens to us Resolution Makers during January, but today I sewed a bit AND I worked out! Ok, I admit, today it was Housework's turn to take a back seat, but nowhere on my resolution list did I include anything about being a better cleaner upper, so I think I'm good (and also smart for knowing better than to include cleaning on my list).

Today I finished a bag for a very special friend - shhhhhhhh - I can't say anything more about it right now. She might be listening. And I took my kids to the pool this evening and Aaron & I each swam TWENTY FIVE lengths of the pool! Hooray for us! While Aaron & I were doing our best MP impersonations, Evan played and went up and down the slide so many times that he probably burned more calories than I did in my 25 laps, but who's counting. It felt good, darn good. Aaron was happy, had very pink cheeks and an expression that only comes with the feeling of accomplishment. It was a pretty great day. Made all the better because I was able to resist the remnants of the Whiteys butterfinger malt that is left in the freezer (thanks, Merd). I am STRONG!!!

I was going to make the trip to my new favorite fabric store (in the only Waunakee in the world) tomorrow but we're supposed to be getting a butt-load of snow. Hmmmm. Perhaps I'll just get what I need from etsy and make the drive on another day.

Now I'm off to bed but I'm starting a new library book tonight so I might be up Late. I hope it's a good one. I love my library, almost as much as I'm going to love the new Target.

But will I be in pain tomorrow?

HA! I've done it! I've broken the cycle of un-fitness. I dragged my sorry jiggly butt to the club today, got on a machine and made my legs go up/down for 3 miles. Hooray for me! And Hooray for Mary, my partner in pain who has a much more exciting carrot dangling for her at the end of our fitness quest - a cruise to Cozumel. Lucky Lucky Lucky!!!

Even Cruise-less, I'm happy to have started something. Part II of my fitness resolution will be to get my kids involved. I have activity and pool schedules in hand and will work some sort of routine out by the weeks end. Promise.

Now I just need to find a way to make fitness and sewing play nice together and not steal time from each other. Today they didn't even make it to the same play date. Maybe tomorrow. I have four orders to fill. Somehow I will figure this out.

New Year's Resolutions

I can't remember ever being this happy to turn the page to another year.

Many of the worries I have are not going to be resolved in the coming 365 days, I know that. But the idea of a clean slate, fictional as it is, gives me such a sense of relief and hope. I'm also feeling especially optimistic this year as we say B'bye to W and welcome a new President who will rescue us from 8 years of complete embarassment and tragic disappointment.

In keeping with this fresh good spirit, for the very first time ever I'm going to make an actual LIST of New Year's Resolutions. I've never been bold enough to put these aspirations to paper because that might mean someone would hold me to them! Or I'd have to admit complete defeat by March 20th. I'll be honest, both are very likely to occur with my official list in hand, but I'm going to give it my best effort. One day at a time...here we go

1. Devote as much time as mentally and physically possible, without jeopardizing my relationship with family members, to my handbag business.

2. Yell less. (this one's for my kids)

3. Smile more. (this one's for Steve)

4. Eat and cook more healthfully. (this is for ALL of us)

5. Love the age I am. And everything that comes (and goes) with it.

6. Live my life, not someone else's idea of a life.

It's possible that my resolutions seem simple and too "SAHM-ish" to some. My list should not be read as a document of complacency but something more close to a petition for an emotionally healthy life. Personally, I can't believe that a good life has anything to do with things like obsessing over our bmi, how many degrees we have hanging on our walls or how many stamps we have in our passport. It's great to have ambitions, just don't let your ambitions ruin your life and the lives of those around you.

Piece of cake, right? Maybe I'll add more resolutions as they come to me. In the meantime,

Happy New Year!!!!