Throw Out Fifty Things

One of the books not in the stack from the other day is Throw Out Fifty Things, since I just picked it up at the library about half an hour ago. Apparently something is transformational about 50 things, so I'll try it.

I keep a box in my car trunk for Goodwill and I pulled out 10 things to take a photo:

1) Plastic magazine file. [replaced by many wooden magazine files from IKEA]

2) Plastic skirt hangars. [replaced by many wooden skirt hangars from IKEA]

3) Lunch box that I purposefully scammed from the kids section at Wordstock, but don't use or need.

4) Thread holders: one purchased new, one inherited, one from Goodwill (not in photo). [replaced by plastic thread cases that will be easy to transport and keep thread dust free]

5) CD crate that I hand painted with my Grandma Marge in 1989. I recently paid my son to move all my music to iTunes and have no need of this crate. Future photos will no doubt show stacks of CDs after I've decided which to purge (and how.)

6) Glass vase with negative connotations

7) Silk sweater purchased from Goodwill Outlet (clothing by the pound!). Used when I got it, now hopelessly stained. I saved the little yellow buttons.

8) Beginner tarot cards from Goodwill.

9) Power supply (nearly new) for the Mac that died last fall, incompatible with all of the 3 laptops in the house.

10) Plastic bowls from Target a few years ago.

I was concerned when I started the list that I was just replacing things, not really getting rid of clutter. But it's not too bad. I hope future photos will show more real de-cluttering. Now I just need to get this stuff out of my trunk. Then it's really gone.

Please Meet Art, We've Been Spending Time Together

Finally my camera (recently found in my very own car after being missing for several months) is talking to my new computer!!

So, voilà! Photo blog! (Now with gratuitous exclamation points!!)

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Last weekend I took my first workshop at Oregon College of Art and Craft. I've wanted to take a class or workshop there ever since I moved to Portland in 2003. But the classes are expensive. So when better to take an expensive class, then when one is totally unemployed?!

I looked for a book arts class, but nothing fit my schedule, so I signed myself up for Handfelted Fingerless Gloves. I had some concern since there was not a photo of the project in the catalog. I'm fairly experienced in the ways of sewing and other fiber arts and didn't want to take a class that I could just do on my own. But no worries. In addition to getting instruction in wet felting and glove construction, I also met some very nice women.

On Saturday morning we made our felted yardage. We were instructed to bring lace or another thin fabric to incorporate into the felt. I brought a red and black organza. Therefore I chose a deep red wool for the gloves. I also incorporated some lacy trim that I used in 2004 to trim the bridesmaid dress I wore at Gretchen's wedding.

That evening, after my felt had dried, I quilted the yardage with a repeating heart pattern using a metallic red thread in the bobbin.

Sunday was construction day. We made learned how to insert a proper thumb into the glove. This was very challenging, but mine went much better than some of the others. I finished with a few flat circular beads on the back of the wrist. I bought these beads in Duncan, BC when we lived in nearby Mill Bay. I also used them in my Ilmatar art quilt.

Here's a photo of all the gloves from the class. I like mine the best.

I then went out and bought a book about felt. I've got a few more ideas that I'd like to explore.

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I've also completed several crafty projects in the last few weeks.

Here are pillows that I made for the new couch from fabrics that were already in my stash. The gold strip hides a zipper. The green is vintage wool from the 1960s that was once part of a kit for making a sewn skirt and knitted sweater. Many years ago I used the yarn to knit myself a vest that I still wear.

I also made curtains for our front window, also a stash buster. However I made the rookie mistake of melting a hole in the synthetic fibers. So I appliqued a cute bluebird over the hole. WIN!

Busy Signal

I'm working six, sometimes seven, days a week right now. The grant that funded my original job is drawing to a close and I still have a lot of loose ends. So here's a lazy update of some things in my life:

• I'm really going to go to Las Vegas with my friend from high school, Becky Two, and four of her friends. This is going to be a crazy busy weekend at my job and I've been thinking that the responsible think to do would be to stay home and work. But as of today I have a plane ticket, so I'm going. I'm also taking an extra day off to hit the hair salon and then drive to Bend, since my early morning flight was a two-person deal out of the Redmond airport.

• I needed a cute dress for both our fundraiser at work and my trip to Vegas, so I bought a sweet little black number at Macy's, with The Star's approval. She's much better at choosing for me than I am. But my new dress is sleeveless, so I'm madly knitting a shrug (from this free pattern) to wear with it. The fundraiser is Saturday and I'm about 3/4 finished.

• The Artist is finally getting some help with his mental health. I've long thought that he was diagnosable, perhaps bi-polar. He's seeing a counselor at his school weekly and has taken the first step towards medication by seeing a psychiatrist. These things are not easy when you've had a lifelong fear of doctors and no health insurance, but I hope that he will feel better soon.

• Both kids got to attend summer camp this year, for the first time ever. The Star went to a two week teen writing and art program at Marylhurst University. Getting her all the way to West Linn (as far south of Portland as we are north) each day was an issue, but we were able to ride share with another Vancouver family who brought her home. This was during the Portland Heat Wave of 2009, when we had record high temperatures, so she spent her days in the air conditioned school buildings and was driven home in an air conditioned Cadillac Escalade. Plush.

• The Magician participated in Project Youth Doc, a four week documentary film program. Again, not in Vancouver. Each day we'd drive him across the river to Oregon to the closest light rail station. He'd take the light rail to his program at the Hollywood Theatre and then I'd pick him up at the station again, sitting in the rush hour traffic for 30 minutes to get the 3 miles back home. I'm looking forward to the premier of his film, The H Word, on Friday. Hopefully it will get posted on YouTube, so that I can share it with you.

• The Artist found something online called "100 Things in 100 Days" (no link, since I can't find what he read) that challenges you to discard stuff. I tried to make up one better--"8 Things a Week." The first week went great and I tossed a bunch of stuff that I'd been carrying around in the trunk of my car, such as our useless 2001 iMac and all my plastic knitting needles. I have a lot more stuff that I can live without, but lately seem to only be adding to the "want" list. One of the top things on that list: a new MacBook. Mine is completely dead. It's probably the power supply, since it hasn't recharged properly since I got it a few years ago. It was my dad's and he gave it to me, not out of the goodness of his heart, but as an excuse to get himself a new one.

• My credit counselor says that if I pay off my debts in the next few months (a good bet thanks to my good fortune), then I should be eligible to buy a house next summer. I've never been fond of renting and would much rather have my own house. It's been six years since we sold the house in Canada, so I qualify as a "first time homebuyer" again. Let's hope the $8000 credit is renewed for 2010!

• I bought a pair of running shoes and haven't been for a run, or even a walk, for about a month. I'm exhausted by long days at work and difficulties at home. The Artist has been walking the dog every morning at 6am, but I'm no longer walking with him then or in the evening.

• I met one of my blog heroes this past week: Danny Evans from Dad Gone Mad. He was funny in person, too. I went out for drinks after his reading at Powell's City of Books and spent much of my evening talking with a cool couple who are both middle school language arts teachers. Now that's got to be a hard job.

Summer at Rancho Cherry-O

Today was the first day of summer. Not by the "longest day of the year" rule, but based on the kids being finished with school for the year. It feels like a new beginning, even though it was just a Thursday.

I enjoyed a nice breakfast with the lovely Rikki, in town from Kansas for a tech conference. Meetings, phone calls, meetings. Then skipped out of work at 4pm after an off site meeting and took the kids to Trader Joe's. (It always surprises and amuses me that my children love grocery stores so much.)

The Star wrote a long list of things to do this summer. What a planner.

Here's a few of mine (no particular order):

1. Log at least 18 more hours for Ooligan Press, so that I've earned the "A" in Publishing Lab that they've already given me.
2. Reupholster both the orphan dining room chair and the corner chair. Already have purchased Anna Maria Horner's Pressed Flowers for the first one. Want to use her Sketchbook fabric for the other, but am concerned that my hairy black dog will ruin it.
3. Participate in Declaration Editing's Super Short Summer Serial Challenge. Look for the first episode on Friday, July 2.
4. Paint the wall in the kitchen. I already own the paint and the wall is only about 75 sq. feet.
5. Finish organizing/unpacking the house while I can still call it the "new" house.
6. Sew curtains for most of the rooms in the house.
7. Take a nice vacation.
8. Learn to run.

Note: I've always wanted to live in a house that had a name. For several years before I knew him, The Artist and several of his friends lived in an old house in Lawrence, Kansas that went by the name, "The Ship of the Devine Retribution." He always spoke fondly of "The Ship" and it gave a lot of credence to the kids' beliefs that he used to be a pirate. So blog-wise I'll call my house Rancho Cherry-o, although it will never stick and is a little silly.

Homeward Bound

Decided in just the last day or two to head over the mountains to Bend, Oregon for the 4th of July holiday.

I have many emotions about this, since I grew up in Bend and graduated from high school there. I associate this community with my mother--strongly--and just being there, in the dry desert air spiked with the smell of juniper and sage, the memories are always overwhelming.

I can count on one hand the number of times I've been to Bend since the summer after my mom died. That summer I lived with her friend Ruth, cleaned hotel rooms Wednesday through Sunday, and sorted through the mountain of household possessions she had left in a storage unit at the edge of town. I rolled and totaled my car--actually my mom's car--in July and I had a big garage sale in August. Then I headed back to school in Iowa and hardly looked back.

When we realized in 2003 that we weren't going to make it in Canada, we considered moving to Bend. But that was the boom time and there was no way to afford the housing, so we settled for Portland. Now Bend is going through a rough patch. The front page of the Sunday Oregonian this week was about the foreclosures and unemployment there. When I left Bend in 1987, the population was 17,000. Now I guess it pushes 80,000--ultimately an unsustainable growth rate.

I took the kids to Bend a couple of years ago. Don't remember why. I might have had a job interview. But The Artist has never been there. When we go to Topeka, Kansas, he has a million stories--"that's the fence I jumped when running from the cops" and "that's the office building I cleaned late at night, when I was just 13."

The places in my stories don't exist anymore. I think the Circle K is some other convinience store. The Pilot Butte Motor Inn isn't on the visitor bureau's Web site. The old lumber mill is now The Old Mill District. Even Mirror Pond is having issues with rapid sedimentation.

But I'm still looking forward to the visit. I'm hoping to stay with Ruth again, but have hedged my bets with a deposit on a vacation rental. We'll participate in the Pet Parade and see the fireworks. I'll reconnect with old friends and make some new memories with my family. Good times.

Thrifty is the New Black

Finally we have found a new home. It's in a great neighborhood and has nearly everything we need. Like three bedrooms and a fenced yard for the pup.

Too bad we can hardly afford it.

I've said a few times that this current economic situation hasn't affected us much. You can't lose what you don't have, after all. But that's not really the whole story.

The state of the global economy affects everyone. For our family, it means that we've been forced out of our rental home of nearly four years and into one that costs nearly $200 more each month.

I have been searching for a new house since December. And I rejected some really good houses because the rent was $1050-1100 per month! Guess what we'll now be paying...

So while it's not the small stuff that gets you, it is a place to start. We've all agreed to cook at home more (in our tiny galley kitchen) and to pack lunches. What are you doing to save?

Quick and Dirty Update

Car situation: After a mere $2500, my car has a new engine, heating core and headlight, amongst other miscellaneous parts. It went to Olympia (2 hours away) with no problem. When the heat is turned on high, it still smells a little like anti-freeze (sweet), but I'm not worried.

House situation: Still looking for the next rental. The current house is for sale for just $140K, but we've only had one potential buyer come through. It's a weird little house in a neighborhood that is just to the right side of questionable, so I doubt it sells before the foreclosure auction in April.

School situation: I'm taking two classes this quarter: Values Based Management and Grantwriting. Easy classes. I'm looking at the schedule for Spring to find two similarly manageable classes and then will drop to just one class per quarter for Fall 2009 and beyond.

Job situation: It's all good. I'm busy and I'm appreciated. I love my co-workers and my location. We're in a wage freeze, so my duties increased drastically in November, but my salary didn't. But I have a job!!

Family situation: The Artist is in school. He struggles with math, but is doing great with his multimedia classes. The Star is in school (sophomore). She struggles with math, but excels at literary arts, music and socialization. The Magician is in school (8th grade). He struggles with motivation, but has found a challenging, fun role as a theater tech geek.

Pet situation: Arlo is the greatest little dog! We all adore him--although I'd be happy if he'd stop stealing socks and underwear and running around the house. We're interested in getting another dachshund puppy this summer to be his buddy. The cat seems to have adopted the family across the street and doesn't even come home to eat anymore. Only The Star is sad about this.

Art situation: I have some fiber work at Angst Gallery in downtown Vancouver, but no time to make anything new. I have multiple projects partially completed. I've never really sold anything anyway.

Writing situation: I'm collecting information for the novel I want to write this summer when I don't have any classes. (Is anyone interested in going to Seattle in May to see Chinese acrobats?--it's research.) This time I really want to get the thing written. It's a new story: popular fiction rather than the literary masterpiece I had attempted before. No Oprah's Book Club for this one, but it should be fun to write. It has a smart, flexible (Chinese acrobats!), yellow-haired heroine based loosely on The Star, as well as a few historical figures such as Nikola Tesla and Lincoln Beachey. It's set in Portland in 1912.

Friend situation: Although I don't see them enough, I'd like to give a shout out to my local friends Susan and Leah. It's difficult to make friends as an adult and I really appreciate these women.

Did I miss anything? Let me know and I'll add it to the list.

Forclosure!

Came home on Tuesday to a 3 page fax taped to my red front door. The bank is foreclosing on my house because no mortgage payment has been made since August.

Lest you be concerned, let me remind you that we RENT. This is not my beautitful house. (It's more of a shotgun shack, anyway.)

So I get to add a new responsibility to my lengthy list: find new house and move. By March--although earlier is better.

Here's what we're looking for:
--walking distance to Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
--3 bedrooms
--fenced yard (front or back)
--storage for bikes
--2 bathrooms (ideal, but not a deal breaker)
--$900-$1000 dollars

Surely this isn't impossible. Next stop Craigslist...

Upholstery

I have a dining room chair that was one of many that my Grandma Hillman had in her house. None of the chairs matched each other, but they were all of a similar style. She found them at estate sales in Naples, Florida and needlepointed new seat covers. (Florida must be mecca for estate sale junkies. Think about it.)

I inherited all of her furniture and "household effects" when she died in 2005. It was a pain in the ass to deal with really. It was all in California, 12 hours away, and most of it was not my style. I brought some of the antiques back and sold them on Craigslist. But I kept this one chair because it looked like a good reupholstery project.




I plan to ditch the needlepoint (it's in good shape, but very faded) and paint the chair black. I've also identified the perfect fabric. It's by Anna Marie Horner who is one of those talented Amy Butler-like fabric designers, who have whole lines of fabrics, patterns and books. You find their stuff at better quilt shops. (So, not where I usually shop.)

The fabric is bold, with a large repeat that will look great centered on the medallion of the chair back.



I think I'll trim the chair in the bright yellow color--I'll know for sure when I order the fabric. I'd like to get this done over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'll be between papers for school and have several free days in a row.

I've always wanted to try my hand at upholstery.

It's All Too Much

I just finished this book last night. I read it cover to cover and will begin it again today. It's a quick read by the guy from TLC's Clean Sweep.

The book isn't so much about organization as about relationships -- your relationship to your possessions and your relationship with the people who have to share your space. This book did not give very many suggestions for labeling or filing. Instead it has asked me to rethink my commitments.

First some background about my messy habits:

• We lived in the same house in Lawrence for 9 years--this is the longest I've ever lived in one place. It was a normal ranch house with 2+ bedrooms, a huge back yard and a garage.
• When we moved to Canada in 2002, we packed, but had professional movers take all the stuff through customs. Our house in Canada was 3000 square feet--twice the size of our Lawrence house. We got rid of a lot of stuff before the move, but then spent a year buying books, art supplies and furniture.
• We moved back to the States just one year later. I had spent much of the year in a deep depression and a lot of our possessions had never even been unpacked.
• We're now on our third rental house in 4 years. The current house has 950 square feet of living space and a 300 sq. foot basement with washer/dryer. We're trying to put four family members and an art career in this space.
• My house is full of boxes. And I keep inheriting more than I need or have space for.
• I don't like to invite people to my house. It's very tiny and there's no place to sit.
• The Star and The Artist don't like to throw away anything they have created. One of my problems is that I collect raw materials (mostly fabric, yarn and old clothes) for what I might create at some point in the future.

I'm so cluttered in my home that I don't like to be there. There is no sanctuary. Everywhere I look I only see mess --and work that needs to be done. I think this is contributing to my depression and I'm ready to do something about it.

So here's what I've been thinking about:

1. You only have the space you have.
2. Possessions are not the same as memories.
3. Overwhelming clutter takes its toll on your finances, your time and your emotions.
4. Everyone in the family must committ to the same ideals for the use of the limited space.
5. Today is the best day to make a change.

I've actually already made some decisions about things I don't need. This summer I put those things in boxes and stored them in my bedroom. I planned to get rid of them: Craigslist or Ebay--something that would net a little money. It's now January. This weekend I took four boxes of stuff (including ice skates both kids got for Christmas in Canada) to Goodwill. I won't miss any of the stuff, but I do have some guilt over the percieved value of it all. This was four boxes of things that I had purchased with my limited income. Now a waste.

So I think that one lesson is that I have to limit what I bring into my space. We no longer buy books like we're starting our own library, but I do still have a tendancy to want cute things. Well I'm finally at a place where I really have to make a distinction between "want" and "need."