Keller threw a (plastic) bottle of Mountain Dew at his sister (because she’d dropped it in the toilet).  He’s not a very good aim, and this happened:

(Let’s not even get into the part where a piece of glass got stuck in the top of my foot and it bled for close to an hour, mmmkay?)

That’s my sewing room light.  It’s what the contractors included in their bid when they finished our basement.  And, it’s BORING.

I decided to take this opportunity and girly up the lighting in there a bit.

And a non-illuminated shot:

Cute, right?  I guess sometimes kid fights aren’t the worst thing ever….

I’m in the middle of a couple of projects that are not turning out as fabulous as they are in my head. And I’m annoyed. I’ve spent way more time on them than I intended to. One of them is not even for this site…it’s a guest post I’m doing elsewhere, which only adds to the pressure. And the annoyance.

So, in an attempt to clear my mind and do something else yesterday, I headed down to my sewing room. My sewing room is in the very furthest corner of the basement (sometimes I go a week or more without setting foot in the basement), so it’s out of sight and out of mind. Plus, you can shut the door and hide the mess. Usually.

View from the hall

I can’t believe I just posted that.

And it gets worse. Let’s start with this mess:

I had 2 lovely IKEA shelves mounted to the wall. Only my kids decided to use them for doing pull-ups. And they spontaneously (yeah right) fell off the wall, bringing all the contents down with them. Did I mention I had tiny little drawer units full of needles, sewing machine feet, snaps, etc on said shelves?

And then there’s this situation:

I know. I KNOW!

Someone dumped out my scrap bucket…

Really? That’s the least of my worries.

P.S. The remote for that TV is missing somewhere in the room, so I can only watch the one channel it’s stuck on (local CBS affiliate).

I spent 3 hours down there yesterday. I spackled. I vacuumed. I filled an entire big black garbage bag and 3 boxes for DI. And it’s still not done. Not even close.

I need IKEA. I need baskets and bins.

Or maybe I just need an intervention.

A bomb?

I WILL finish this. Hold me to it.

Today is the last day to enter the Impel Clothing giveaway. Go here to enter, if you haven’t already.

Super, super super awesome giveaway (think $150 value) in the morning. It’ll just run through the weekend, so be sure to check back. Want a clue?

And, the current Silhouette promotion (machine, black premium vinyl, frosted vinyl, transfer tape, home décor CD for $225 and/or 25% off premium vinyl) runs through Monday. Code “CRAP” will let you take advantage of the deal.

And what a year it’s been.

This is the year we learned about SPD.

This is the year we learned about Asperger’s.

This is the year you told us you could ride a bike without training wheels

(and you were RIGHT).

This is the year you took swimming lessons and faced your fear of water head on.

This is the year you scored your first goal.

This is also the year you tricked your mother into buying you an Ed Hardy shirt.

You take the good with the bad, right?

Happy birthday, Campbell.

And here’s my disclaimer: I don’t love my master bedroom. It’s not ME. Perhaps if I loved it I would have taken the time to move BC’s CPAP machine off of his bedside table?

My master bedroom is large. It’s one of the main reasons we bought this house. In our old place you couldn’t even walk all the way around our queen bed.

I fell in love with the Farmhouse Canopy Bed from Pottery Barn

but I didn’t love the price (hint: well over $1600 with shipping).

Our bed came from The Wood Connection (a local unfinished furniture store) and is solid maple. We paid them to finish it for us and still came in under half price.

And, the other end…

Eventually we’ll get the outlet moved and the cords under control. It’s only been 7 years so far…

So what’s the point of this post?

I have no idea!

You asked and I like to encourage voyeurism?

Maybe you can make me love my bedroom?

Maybe this will motivate me to finally frame the TV and do something about the cords?

Maybe you learned that unfinished furniture stores are a great way to knock off Pottery Barn furniture for less?

See you tomorrow?

We’ve got a big bunch of crazy this weekend, so most everything crafty is on hold. I’m so whacked out that I even hired a housekeeping service. And look what they did to my toilet paper!

(crappy cell phone pic)

My partner Lindy made it through the decoupage round of CWTS. Her project was this phenomenal chest.

She hand painted the branches and decoupaged the birds. Her project for this week’s baby theme sounds insanely awesome and ambitious as well! I’ll remind you when you can go vote.

And, there’s still time to go enter Knock It Off over at 733.

There’s also time to send me cookies to influence the judges’ decisions.

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Specifically, I hate matching socks. And, it’s gotten out of control.

Way way way way out of control.

See?

It’s too late for help. I think I’m going to buy everyone new socks and start over.

Yes, really.

So, do you have any tips to keep my from finding myself in this situation again in a few short months? (Especially if you have 3 little boys in a row who all wear white socks that look exactly the same, though apparently they’re not and leave them in weird places so complete pairs very rarely make it into the same load of laundry…)

Maybe I’ll just move to Hawaii and make them all only wear sandals.

In the mean time…

Voting for round 2 of CWTS ends tonight at 10 MST. Go vote, if you haven’t already.

Kim @ 733 (who designed my blog) is hosting a fun contest called Knock It Off. There are prizes (over $100 worth) and I’m one of the judges!

And, you can enter the Elk Dresses giveaway through Friday at midnight here.

I think that went pretty well. I stepped out of my comfort zone A LOT last year.

I did a project for a magazine. (And an interview, where they were nice enough to leave out the parts that made me sound like a fool.)

I was on TV and I didn’t even curse!

I went to a couple of blog conferences and admitted to myself that I am indeed an actual “blogger”.

Here’s where I tell you all that 2010 kind of sucked. In fact, I’d say it was one of the top 2 worst/most stressful years for me in recent memory. It was right up there with 2003 (when we had a baby, moved twice, my dad died, I broke my knee cap and was housebound for 6 weeks…). Every 7th year is bad for us. You’ll probably want to keep your distance in 2017, just sayin’…

So, what’s my goal in 2011?

FIND THE JOY

I talked about learning to find the joy in my Mother’s Day post last year and I think it’s time for me to take a refresher course.

Dee Dee asked me what I wanted to accomplish in 2011 for her one question interview series. Here’s my response:

I want to visit Omaha.
I want to say NO more often.
I want to say YES more often.
I want to yell less and laugh more.
I want to DO more and worry less.
I want to take more naps.
And, I want to stop buying diapers for the first time since 2000.

What are you resolving?

I do, however, want to show you all this little gem from Stat Counter:

It’s been quite a ride. I’m thankful and overwhelmed.

Thank you for choosing to come here and read.

Thank you for saying hi to me when you see me out and about (even when I haven’t showered ).

Thank you for the kind emails.

2010 Highlights

My personal favorites…there’s nothing scientific about this!

My favorite post of the year (not a craft in sight…just me waxing philosophical).

(Click on the pictures to go to the tutorials)

Here’s to a fabulous 2011!

(And don’t forget you can pick up a Silhouette for $175 through January 1st if you subscribe to the online download store. Use code “CRAP” to get the deal!)

Ours was fabulous. Everyone got something they loved:

(Yes, he asked for one.)

It’s really too bad I didn’t get a pic of BC opening his Xbox Kinect. He was SURE he wasn’t getting one, on account of my undying hatred for video games and a credit card disaster earlier in the week. (Dear Chase, I still hate you.) He might have had the most surprised face of the day.

And one person was not too thrilled about what this gift implies:

Mom got a new camera lens. People got sick of that real quick, too.

(But look at my fancy bokeh!)

I’ll be back tomorrow with a year end wrap up. Hope you’re continuing to enjoy your holidays!

In the mean time, Dee Dee did a little one question interview with me. Go see my scintillating answer to “What do you want to accomplish in 2011?”

30 didn’t seem old.

35 does.

I’ve been doing some reflecting as of late and trying to figure out exactly why I do this. And by “this”, I mean “blog”. A reader (shout out to Meghan) emailed me and asked that very question a month or so ago. (She had to teach a class about it at church…she’s not just nosey!)

Here’s part of my response:

(Disclaimer: A few parts are Mormon-y. While I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a Mormon, I try to keep my faith separate from my blog, since it doesn’t really have anything to do with the subject matter. And it’s very personal. It is, however, a huge part of who I am and I think it’s relevant for this post. * = Mormon term.)

Why do I blog? It’s not for the money — I’ve never made a cent. I do occasionally get free stuff, and that’s fun, but it’s not why I do it. You know how a generation ago all the moms were outside on their front porches watching their kids play in the street? I think that blogging is this generation’s “front porch”. For a number of reasons (safety, moms having to work, more demands on our time, life being less simple), that phenomenon and the sense of community it created are gone. I get that “community” feeling from blogging. And, it works with my life. I have 4 kids, one of which has Asperger’s and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). I’m the Camp Director* and in the Primary Presidency*. My husband is the Elders Quorum President*. Life is crazy. Blogging can happen at 10pm or 5am. I don’t think my neighbors want to hear from me at those hours.

I also got more help and information in one random off topic post about my son having SPD than I did in months of talking to the school district and trying to get evaluations. The blogging community is giving. They love to share and support one another. I love having a group like that I can go to for support. There’s also a huge range of life experiences out there that I can draw from when I have a question.

I think that blogging has also helped me develop talents. It’s definitely forced me to be more creative. I’ve tried a lot of new things and stepped outside of my comfort zone. (Dude! I was on TV! And I didn’t even freak out or curse!) My sewing has improved. My photography has improved. My writing? Not so much. LOL! I am who I am, though, and the greatest compliment I get is when I meet someone who reads my blog and they say “You’re EXACTLY the same in real life!”

Mormon-y part alert:

Remember that talk President Uchtdorf gave in the General Women’s meeting a few years back? This one….the part subtitled “The Work of Creation”, specifically. We DO need to create.

And I’ve created a blog.

*************

Do I know where this blog is headed?

Nope. I still have no idea.

I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.

Gratuitous picture to make this post cuter:

Happy first birthday yesterday to my freaking adorable niece!

Where is this Pottery Barn damaged goods outlet you speak of?

It’s on 3505 W and 3500 S in West Valley City. Be prepared for A LOT of crap, but when you score? You score big.

I got this Spiderman backpack for Campbell for $4. It was monogrammed, but a little careful patience with the seam ripper and you can’t even tell.

What color is that paint? It looks yellow on my screen!

It’s Toasted Pumpkin by Valspar and I got it at Lowe’s. It’s most definitely orange. The lighting in my room may have been weird yesterday or maybe your monitor settings are different from mine or something.

Where’d your search box go?

It wasn’t working and from what I found on the web, Google was aware of the problem. There was no fix planned at that time. I should probably check and see if that’s happened yet. Or, does anyone know of another good search widget/gadget/whatever?

Where did the giveaway listing go?

I got a lot of requests when it was new, but then it kind of fizzled out. And it when it was active it was way more work than I thought it was going to be. If you’re looking for a good list of bloggy giveaways, Michelle over at Someday Crafts hosts one every Thursday.

What is the font called in your header? Is that your handwriting?

I have no idea. Kim at 733 did my redesign and she picked it all. It is most definitely not my handwriting. I write like a doctor.

Where did the buttons go?

They have their own page now. If you look on the left under “Connect With Me!” next to the Facebook and Twitter and subscription options, you’ll see a button. Click on it. I dare you. Or, just go here.

Anything else you’d like answered? Leave it in the comments or shoot me an email!

Do you ever feel like you’re just doing a haphazard (totally just used the thesaurus to find something that meant half @$$ed but was more family friendly) job of everything and a good job at nothing?

That’s me.

Campbell started preschool today.

If you’re his mom (and I realize none of you are), you can see the anxiety all over his face.

This time of year is hard for him. I wonder if he needs more sunlight or vitamins or sleep or something. Or, maybe that’s just how Asperger’s rolls.

Lucky for me, this guy takes a nap during preschool.

I’m thinking 2 hours of peace and quiet 3 times a week could be just what I need to undo my flakey funk.

I’ve got BIG plans to answer emails tomorrow.

Today?

I’m going to take a nap.

He’s currently sleeping in it.