Vacation!

I lied about the upcoming craft pics, I didn’t get around to taking them so I’ll take the pics on vacation and talk about that, and the vacation, when I get back.
So, have a lovely couple of weeks, and Happy Canada Day!

Craft :: Travel Bags

I made the kid’s some travel bags because they didn’t have any and any bag I liked was $200. I had an entire post all about it, with some very good advice thrown in for good measure but I lost it in a tired stupor. Here’s the bags:

This is perfectly normal, right? This over-crafting right before a big family trip? Right?
Because tomorrow there’s another post coming about more. Oh yes, there was more crafting… stay tuned!
oh, and note the piping. That’s right, I piped. My Mom tells me this is impressive so I’m pointing it out. heh.

reCrafted :: Sleeping bags

Well, since sex is out as a blog topic I’m forced to return to my old standby – crafts.
I’ve been a crafting machine lately; my sewing machine hasn’t seen so much action. I’m considering maybe doing some maintenance on that old machine, you know, as a thank-you for being so reliable when I treat it so horribly. And reliable it was, yet again, and patient while I went WAY out of my sewing comfort zone and tackled zippers (and piping, by that’s a different post).
The family is headed out for over 2 weeks of camping and driving because I am completely insane and in a moment of weakness thought that would be fun. We?re not taking the trailer, just a car full of gear and our happy little selves.
Steve and I were talking about buying the kids sleeping bags but I figured that was silly and being a Recrafting Goddess (oh, ok, I just wanted to call myself a goddess. Shush.) I could easily make a couple of bags out of an old quilt or something. Not that I had an old quilt lying around, or even the slightest idea how one would go about making a bag, or sewing a zipper but you know, I’m a Recrafting Goddess!
As luck would have it my Mom had an old feather duvet tucked away that she wasn?t using anymore, and also happens to be an excellent seamstress (as is my Grandma) so I suddenly had the material and a wealth of knowledge at my disposal and sleeping bags were had! Made by me!
Let?s give Michelle a minute to calm her rage at the fact that my kids will be sleeping on a feather duvet? Hi! Michelle! Love you!

Not only did Mom have a spare duvet, she also had a sheet she never used so some very spiffy sleeping bags were made for the cheap price of a couple of duvet zippers ($7.00 which was a rip off considering I could have gotten two for $5 at Wal-Mart).

One of the bags I lined with an old yellow fleece blanket so it?s extra comfy-cozy. And has the added advantage of a little appliqué cow on the inside, you know, for those nights when you feel like you really need to cuddle up to a cow.

Callum loves these bags, so much so that he insisted on sleeping in the fleece lined one in his bed when it was hotter the hell out. oh how the heart melts. Callum’s quite literally that night I suspect.

The bag lined with fleece didn’t exactly go together that well and there is a pretty big flaw at the top of the bag. I didn’t have time to fix it, but hopefully, maybe, if I feel like it, I’ll fix it later this summer. It works and I suspect they should keep the kids properly warm, assuming the kids actually sleep in them which they won’t because that’s what kids do.

Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby!

Recently I read an essay about motherhood and sex, or rather, the complete (apparent) lack of sex after kids. Michelle and I have also discussed this situation when we?ve realised while talking to our girlfriends/acquaintances that there are a lot of couples who do not seem to be having sex on any sort of regular basis.
While I am not going to go into the intimate details of my own sex life, I will say this ? I?m getting some on a regular basis. I?m curious, why aren?t couples having sex? I know couples who are clearly very much in love, who have an obvious respect for each other that is apparent when they speak of their partner, but they aren?t having sex. Why? Is there a health reason? If you?re not having sex with your partner than how does that relationship differ than any other relationship you have with someone of the opposite sex? Isn?t the sex sort of what sets it apart? Does the mere fact that I even think that mean my own relationship is doomed to fail at some point?!
Obviously right after a baby is born the sex basically comes to a standstill, but after a few months what?s the hold up? Generally babes start sleeping through the night at 6 months, so you would assume that by 6 months (generally) everyone is well-rested. Is it just an age thing?
I don?t expect you to tell me the intimate details of your relationships, which is of course sacred, but I am genuinely curious what the reasons could be and thought hey! Let?s ask the internet! Maybe you all could either shed a light on the matter, or even just hypothesize with me.
And I seriously don’t have ANY pictures in my folders that I could associate with this post

Getting Back to my Roots :: Baked Beans

On Lisa?s recommendation I recently read Micheal Pollan?s Omnivore?s Dilemma. Actually, I went to check it out of the library, and there was this enormous waiting list, so I decided I?d read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation first. Fast Food Nation led to The End of Food (Thomas Pawlick), which took up enough time for me to get my hands on Omnivore?s Dilemma. At which point I may have developed a little bitty crush on Michael Pollan for reasons unknown (does that happen to anyone else? They suddenly develop crushes on authors?) and I had to read In Defense of Food, too. And for good measure I read Skinny Bitch.
What was I talking about?
Right, so I?ve read this slew of food books and it has relit a fire under my butt to start making better food choices. Choices that will be better for us in terms of our health, and the health of the environment, because you know, I?m all self-righteous like that.
A lot of people simply assume that I stopped eating meat for animal rights, then are surprised to find out that I?m really not that passionate about animal rights. Don?t get me wrong, I think we should treat ALL living things with respect, and when you do eat a hamburger I think you should respect that it was in fact a cow at one point in its life. Then go ahead and eat the cow. Honestly, eat the cow. I don?t have a problem with the eating of the cow although I would prefer to see you eat a local, organic cow. No, I?m not going to eat the cow because OHMYGOD YOU?RE EATING A COW. Still, I?m ok with it. Honest.
I really am ok with people eating meat, we are omnivores after all. My reasons for becoming vegetarian have always been environmental. I believe as a society we consume way too much meat, and it is a fact that our consumption has had a serious impact on the environment. Every single one of the above mentioned books just made me even more determined not to eat industrially produced meat.
It has also made me question every single food decision I make these days, from crackers to bread to oranges. It would be insane to suddenly go completely local and whole (I?m pretty sure Steve would divorce me if I didn?t keep him in cereal), so gradually, in small baby steps, I?ve been making changes.
The biggest change I?ve made so far is to begin baking our bread. I haven?t bought a loaf of bread since March and I?m pretty darn proud of that and I’m just going to ignore the fact that Steve keeps a loaf of store-bought bread at work (wimp!). Since then I?ve been testing out recipes for crackers, hamburger buns and bagels, but haven?t found a solid recipe that makes everyone happy and consistently produces the same results. I’m not entirely sure if I ever will, we’ll see.
I am also trying to ban all fast food franchises, but Tim Horton’s puts crack in their coffee, and I am weak. So very, very weak. And I didn’t realize how difficult that ban would be with kids because it is so much easier to just buy some fries than it is to put together a lunch when you’re running some errands…
But hands down the craziest (stupidest, completely insane) decision I made was opting not to buy baked beans because I thought, hey! I?m clever! I can bake beans! I?m like, Super Homemaker! I can do anything!
And I did it, I baked beans.

And for the 8+ hours that took I repeatedly said aloud to no one in particular ?Why the hell didn’t I just buy the damn can?? because seriously, baking beans is taking slow food to a whole new level. Not that it was hard, it wasn’t, but crap was it time consuming with the soaking, and the simmering, and the crock-potting. They should be charging $10/can just to make up for the energy costs in production!
I took a picture of a crockpot of beans. I need help.