My Monday Musings - Time Marches On...

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.

- Henry Miller

Yesterday, Buttercup advised me that she's not going to be replacing Biscuit when her beloved hamster dies. While this may not seem like a big deal to you, this is monumental in our house. We've had hamsters since Buttercup was in kindergarten. The American Girl dolls were packed away this winter; settling in for the long wait for Buttercup's own children.

The army men and the Lincoln logs didn't get unpacked last summer. No rubber band ammunition came out. Army men and Lincoln logs have been a part of our lives for so long and, yet, their time has come. Even the Legos don't come much these days. (I'm thinking as cat chew toys doesn't count, right?) Valiant, too, is packing up favorites...favorite books, favorite toys...just not favorites for this time in his life.

Charming's beloved whales, novels, and drawings have been packed away for two years now. Even his silly dinosaur bank has been saved for sometime in the future.

I have a box in which I've packed away one of my own baby dresses, one of my brother's baby outfits, and a favorite outfit from each of my children's baby years. A few baby blankets and a beloved mobile round out the baby box and the baby years for two generations are tucked away

And just like that, the baby/little kid years are gone from the Nagle5 household.

As I sat there in the kitchen last night, discussing with Buttercup her decision to let Biscuit be her last hamster, I was struck by how much my children have grown up in these past few years. Oh, I knew they were growing up. After all, I'd had a mini breakdown when I sent Charming off to college that first fall. Even then, the progression was clear: Charming, Valiant, and finally Buttercup would all grow up. And yet... How quickly the time has passed between longing for a moment of quiet and wondering where all the play went. Oh, I know to the mother of younger children quiet is a longed for household attribute (if even for a moment) and I'm not saying I wish for a house full of shrieking children. I'm stopping, pausing if you will, to acknowledge the passage of time, the changing of seasons in my children's lives.

When my boys were little, I would receive negative comments regarding the fact that they are (deliberately) five years apart. "Oh, you're going to be back in diapers again!" "Oh, you're going to be housebound again!" "All that baby stuff." These were often quickly followed up with, "That is why I had my babies close together, so I could just get it all over with." As you can imagine, these same people were stunned, when almost three years later we welcomed Buttercup. Yep, more diapers, more home time, more baby stuff...another baby in the house.

Those days are past and we've entered a new phase in our family. Charming graduates from college in less than two weeks and fast on his heels, Valiant is already talking about driving and girls. The boys in the neighborhood are on the move and not content to hang out in the cul de sac anymore. Bikes are de rigueur Buttercup, too, has let me know she's putting away her "little girl" years. The talk is now about which friends wear make-up, wear bras, and are boy-crazy.

This is such an exciting time for my children, but can it be exciting for me, too? Oh, yes! No, I have no more cuddly babies, but my time spent with my neighbor's adorable baby boy has cemented for me the fact that the season for babies of my own is long gone. I am so glad I spread my children out, enjoying each of them in the various "stages" of babyhood, but I am done. I'm loving the time I do things with my children, not just do things for my children. I celebrate as these amazing "former cuddly babies" of mine reach new milestones of their own. I am excited to see them set bars to reach of their own and surprise themselves with what they can do. I encourage them to look forward with enthusiasm. I've done my job well, despite the ups and the downs, and they're amazing people for whom I'm filled with admiration. I like spending time with my children as individuals, not just my children. How cool is that?

As my last baby showed me last night, time is marching on in the Nagle5 household. I want to be part of the parade, but I'll let them choose our route in this uncharted territory.

Copying an Easy Ikea Hack

Yes, despite the fact that I am now 5 hours from the closest Ikea, I still torture myself by reading Ikea Hacker. I love to see what clever things people come up with using the inexpensive things they find at Ikea. This post inspired me to tame the tangle under my desk for free! All I needed was some patience, a cardboard box (I did have an Ikea box), empty toilet paper rolls, and some duct tape.

Before:

All of this was visible under my desk, which means my feet were always bumping up against something.Wireless Alarm Monitor: With my desk, computer, and sewing machines in the basement, I like hearing when my doors open and close. With this little unit, a tone sounds when one of the doors is opened. With kids heading in and out all day, I like having a feel for where they are. Also, a tone chimes if a door has been open for a long time.

Universal Power Supply ("UPS"): When the power goes out at our home, for any reason, this baby keeps my computer safe and sound.

Bouncy, Bouncy Ball: A present from someone.

Chamois: Just in case we had some water come in again this winter. Thankfully, it remained unused.

Wires that hook everything together: Too much peripheral stuff means a lot of wires.

Network Cable: What?! You don't have a server at your house?

Power Strip: Obviously, we need far more plugs than a standard outlet gives us. Doesn't everyone have one of these under there desk?

(Oh, and can you guess where we ran out of orange paint when we painted this room?)


After:

Look at this! The only things that aren't still under my desk are the Bouncy, Bouncy Ball and the Chamois. Everything else is still there!! Doesn't it look so much neater? (Now I really need to get more 'mango madness' paint to finish up that "under desk" area!)


So, this turned out to be easier than I thought. I cut two holes in the back of the box. One to feed the heavy cords through (like the power strip cord or the UPS cord) and the other for the smaller gauge cords. One of the holes needed to be pretty big because of the transformers that are at the end of some of the plugs. Finally, since the UPS generates heat, I drilled holes in the lid of the box to allow for the heat to dissipate. I also made one of the holes bigger so the antenna for the wireless alarm wouldn't have issues.

Then I just took my time and threaded everything neatly through the holes and hooked them back up. Then I cut open three toilet paper rolls (you can only see two in the photo) and fed the wires into the sliced holders and closed them up with the duct tape.

Instead of using toilet paper rolls to tame the wires (I know they're so glamorous, but not everyone is enamored of them), Sew Many Ways uses split flexible tubing that she found at Home Depot for approximately $2. If I get around to it, I might switch mine over, but for now, I like free and here even better than $2 and trip to HD.

I love it and I love that it was done with stuff I had around the house. I can actually put my feet under my desk without worrying about pulling out cables or getting tangled up in cords. Sometimes the simplest things make the biggest impact.

"Cajun-Style" Bird Watching

One of our new kittens, Cajun, is absolutely fascinated by the birds. I often find her watching them. Interestingly, it is clear that the birds are looking at Cajun, too. I confess to wishing I could "hear" their thoughts. Until then, my imagination will have to suffice.

She's just sure fun is to be had, if she can just get into the cage. So far, the birds have declined to invite her. She hasn't given up...

P.S. For those of you with keen eyes who noticed the mousetraps surrounding the birdcage, those were for Sam-I-Am (who has been feeling froggy of late) and are NOT set. They would definitely damage little Cajun.

Friday Photo Flashback - Harry Potter Edition

It's been a while since I've participated, but the party has continued on without me. It is Friday Photo Flashback time and I found the cutest picture when I was cleaning out my files last week. Obviously, I need to do that more frequently.

This was taken about a month and a half before we left So Cal for the Pacific Northwest. Our oldest, Charming, was a Harry Potter fanatic and we always attended the midnight release parties as the next book in the series was published. By the time this one came along, the little ones were just as excited to go to the release parties as he was. (Valiant and I stopped reading the books after we finished Book 5...they just felt too sad for us.)
This was taken at the Barnes & Nobles in West Covina, CA. That is Valiant's nine-year-old little head sticking out of the display. This a Polaroid taken by one of the kids working there. I just love it. Wasn't he just the cutest? So much time has passed already and, yet, it seems like just yesterday.

Head over to Alicia's to see what everyone else dug up and I'll keep cleaning out my files to see what turns up.

Shoot Me! 16 of 52

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it! Just head over to Carin's and join in.

I'm still a week behind, but by the end of Thursday, I'll be caught up. For this one, though, I'm pulling out a picture I love from January.


Remember when I got my hair cut in January? What?! You haven't kept my haircut in the forefront of your mind all this time? I'm shocked! Anyway, I loved this picture the moment I saw it. I love the way I'm looking at my boy and how happy everyone looks in this picture. Poor composition and not the most flattering, but who cares? It was just a moment of play with my kids.

Evolution of an Eat-in Kitchen

When we first moved into this house almost five years ago, we used our dining area/eat-in kitchen as our dining room. This house was built without a dining room. Unfortunately, the step down that you can see clearly in the third picture (with Charming on the dark loveseat) made the dining room cramped and actually unsafe for the person who sat at the end of the table.

Within a year, I moved the dining room table into the room that is supposed to be the living room. It eventually ended up looking like this and has worked really well for us.

But what to do with the "dining room" space? Well, for a long while I played with it as a seating area. The family always gathers here when I'm cooking or baking. When guests come over, they want congregate in the kitchen area. Here is the first iteration. A dark loveseat and a leather chair facing it created a conversation area. The problem? The ottoman collected "stuff" and was never cleared off for any amount of time. We needed a change. (This dark loveseat is now in my room.)
Then we have it with the white Klippan couch from Ikea. A little Ikea table that I got for something like $25 in the as-is section was pushed up against my kitchen cupboard. The birdhouse was moved (I hated the way the feathers collected under the table). The big problem? Again, stuff just collected on that table and the table was never used the way I thought it would be.
I don't have a picture, but I ended up taking the table down and storing it (again) and putting a bent wood rocker in the corner to create a conversation area. No ottoman or coffee table to collect stuff. No rug to collect dog fur. Simple and easy.

Then Valiant wanted the Klippan couch in his room, so I put the futon in its place.
This is how the space stayed for quite some time. It wasn't very pretty, but it worked. Then Superman left for his new job. Charming was away at college and the two kids and I didn't want to eat all our meals at the big table. The bent wood rocker was put away (a good thing, too, as the cane wasn't holding up well). I moved the "craft" table from Buttercup's room and put the futon in its place (it is awesome for sleepovers!). I brought out my as-is Ikea bar stools (from my California house...finally had a use for them because the craft table is counter height!) and we started using this as our table. I loved the the size and the layout, but I hated that the ends were shelving, not open like a table. The space was still only "kind of" working for us. This morning, however, inspiration struck!

I took the craft table apart and used the two shelf ends as one big shelf and added a melamine "shelf" from Home Depot to finish the top. I brought back the table that I'd had in the room with the white sofa, as well as bringing back one of the rugs I've moved to various places in the house. Finally, I brought in some of my dining room chairs. Ta Da! A room that is comfortable, functional, and attractive. All for $11.43 (the price of the shelf on top of the "bookcase"). The dog is just eye-candy.


So, the moral of the story? Keep tweaking until you get it the way you want it. As long as you only have furniture you like, you will eventually get to a room you love.

What about you? Do your rooms evolve? Do you think I'm crazy? Does it work for you?

100 Years...

A few months ago, my Aunt MB sent me two dresses that her mother (my grandmother) wore as a child. Aunt MB's granddaughters, the daughters of my cousins, each had their pictures taken in these dresses and Buttercup was next in line. I was very excited to get the dresses, but confess I know very little about them. My grandmother was born in 1901 and it is my understanding that she wore these dresses as a child/young woman, but I'm not sure how old she was when she wore them. (A little research put me at roughly 1914 - the dresses look very much like the "1914 Afternoon Dress Pattern" I found here. The math makes these dresses close to 100 years old. Can you imagine? The dresses are made out of a fine lawn...tissue thin. The workmanship is exquisite. There is even a chemise to go under them. They are so delicate, I was afraid to even put them on Buttercup. We finally got brave enough last week and I thought I'd show you the results of our dress-up day.


Doesn't she look like an elegant little girl from a bygone era?

Clothing has changed a lot in 100 years. Buttercup felt awkward with the chemise and I had no idea how to deal with some of the buttons and hooks and layers. (We put the first dress on backwards at first.)

I think little girls have changed a lot in 100 years, too. Buttercup's shoulders at just-turned-11 were actually too broad for either of the dresses and the scyes (arm-holes) were too high and too small for Buttercup's arms. Finally, we couldn't close the backs on anything...if my grandmother wore these dresses as a young woman of 14 or 15, she must have been a tiny thing. That, or corsets hadn't yet been abandoned in Kentucky in 1915 (which is also likely). Dresses like the two I had the privilege of "playing" with were definitely NOT designed with active, athletic little girls in mind.

After the pictures were taken, we packed the dresses back up. Now that my youngest brother has a little girl, she's next in line to try on a few pieces of family history. Maybe her mom will know how to wash and iron these beautiful dresses. As for me? I was too afraid to do more than slip them on and off Buttercup.

Things that make me go "huh?"

I recently read (but didn't confirm) that physical trainer Jillian Michaels is reported to have said that she would never ever have a baby because it would ruin her body. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of someone choosing not to have a baby and I totally get that everyone has different reasons for making such decisions. I respect anyone who knows themselves well enough to make life decisions like these. I also believe that famous people have always made decisions like this for their craft, but they rarely came out and said they were doing so. Ms. Michaels obviously wasn't worried about the reception such a stand would receive. We are a society that is so vain, so shallow, so concerned about appearance that we make our childbearing decisions based on looks and we have no qualms about admitting such.

Huh?

How did we become a society where physical appearance became the be all and end all of our existence? How did we become a people for whom physical appearance is the measure of success and worthiness? How did caring about our appearance evolve into obsession with every little aspect of our bodies?

What does this mean for our society? What does this mean for our children? Looks are more important than children? What else are they more important than? Last year, I read and reviewed Too Sexy, Too Soon . It was as fascinating and disturbing look at the overwhelming pressure our children feel to be attractive and sexual at younger and younger ages. This book made me aware of how we are sacrificing our children on the alter of physical beauty; Jillian Michaels' comment made me aware that we're going even farther back.

Looks have replaced substance. We are how we look, not what we do. Looks fade. Even the advent of plastic surgery and various other cosmetic interventions, our youth fades. Even Jillian Michaels will eventually sag, wrinkle, and slow down. How will she cope with the inevitable? With nothing more important than looks, I have to wonder: As our looks go, do we cease to exist?