New quilt: Front
My back to school edge seems to be wearing off. The first few weeks I'm always Miss Organized, Miss Got All the Forms Signed, Miss Get out of the Door at 7:35. Now I'm more like Miss Whatever.
That's not entirely true. I still make lunches the night before and I still comb my hair before pick-up if I'm going to walk into the building. But that's about it. I'm done in.
The boys seem to be fine. We've revised Jack's contract once already, amending it to require more family and downstairs time, plus exercise time on weekends. Plus a clause requiring him to be friendlier to his little brother. He's doing two afterschool enrichments, which is good. Most kids these days are overscheduled; mine are pretty much nonscheduled. But Jack could use a little scheduling here and there, a few more hours out of the house. He seems to like it.
This has been a quiet weekend. Yesterday I worked on a quilt and cleaned the house and then went out to a nice dinner with my friends Amy and Danielle. The Man worked on some projects in his study, and the boys took about eight hours to complete one chore apiece (Jack: laundry; Will: trash). I'm trying to get them to do more work around the house. They resist by saying, I'll do it in five minutes and then not doing it in five minutes. They think that eventually I'll get tired of nagging. Sometimes I do. Yesterday I held firm and the jobs finally got done.
It was a little frustrating, nonetheless.
Today: Church, naps, football on TV (not me; the Man and Will), youth group (Jack). All of the boys, Travis included, are on a walk/bike ride as I write. It's a beautiful day, and I should have gone, too, but what I really need to do is work in the garden, which has turned into a jungle. I will. In five minutes.
New quilt: Back
This feels like a very quiet post, but I'm feeling very quiet right now. I'm working hard on a new book, which always makes me quiet and a little withdrawn. Not withdrawn in a bad way. Maybe I should say focused inward. That's what I am right now. Living all the way in my head.
Fall is on the way. Today was the first day you could tell. Driving home from church, I saw many of my neighbors in their gardens. We've all been waiting for a nice day in the upper 70s, light breeze, and here it is. I think I'll go enjoy it.
8 comments:
Quilts = beautiful!
I've been inside all day (well, I took out some trash and it took me less than five minutes!)
My head is feeling a little dusty inside and I'm tired of the sound of my voice there.
I'm writing you a letter, but I'm also sorting my office/book room/sewing room/piles of junk room so it's slow. Pretty, though! Wait until you see it!
It sounds like Sundays at your house are very good, Frances!
Love your quilt! It doesn't seem like it should be so hard to get the kids to do one simple chore, does it? I go through the same thing.
My husband once found his dad's journals. The most beautiful and telling lines: "Most of the time, I choose to live in my head. I'm happiest there." I never met him as he had passed away by the time I met my Bill, but I like to think I knew a bit of him just because of these two sentences. I think I would have liked him.
I liked this quiet post.
Such a pretty quilt, Frances. It must feel really good to create something so beautiful and getting to gaze upon it when it is finished.
It is feeling like fall (for texas) just a little bit here, too. I wore a light jacket on a walk this morning! I had to take it off halfway through, but before that I was flaunting it to my chilly, jacketless husband. :)
You are a quilting phenom! I like the back almost as much as I like the front.
My garden is finally producing! I should be canning some tomatoes very soon as they'll all be ripening at once, so it seems. I've got cinnamon pickles in the works using those big, overgrown cukes. You peel and seed them and cut them into rings. Pretty and the men always like them.
Ninety-five here today -- too hot for Sept. But the cool is on the way. Yay!
Ooooh, you are clever. I LOVE the back of your quilt, it is unexpected and quirky.
Agreement all around with the other commenters about your quilt. One thing that would get the chores done quickly is putting a time limit and a consequence. Ex. I'll give you thirty minutes to get the trash taken out. If you don't, then you have to also unload the dishwasher, etc. This is a great motivator. Only thing is, you have to check behind them to make sure it was done in a timely manner. But that's what a parent does, right? Also it puts the ball in their court, and that's always a good thing; personal responsibility.
It does seem as though you often write about how you're doing nothing, but every few months we see pictures of GORGEOUS QUILTS that someone made. God bless you, Dear Frances.
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