The Fourth Day ~ And Meanwhile ...

Today was OrgoDay4 ...

but lest you think all I've done is work hard (well, I think you all know me better than that anyway!) I threw in some more of what's been going on.

Yesterday it was leaf-heaping:

Tobi-Wan floofing leaves on himself:

Low in the leaves he lay, Garkie the Jedi, waiting the coming Sith, Garkie my son...
Up from the leaves he arose! With a mighty triumph o'er his foes:

Three Monkeys in a leafy nest:

and tonight was Tent Night:

A tent in the living room? How can that be?

They even get to sleep there:

Um ... except they're not sleeping. Yet.

But you're still wondering about OrgoDay4, aren't you?

Today we moved on to the family room and living room. I decluttered quite a few videos (after beginning the morning explaining why I didn't need to get rid of any, ha ha) but I didn't get pix of that. I was supposed to do a filing cabinet, but we moved on to toys and that took longer than we imagined.

The toys. Oh, the toys, toys, toys, TOYS!!

Too bad I didn't have a picture of the cabinets before.

Hollie began by ... *gulp* having the children DUMP all the toys into a huge heap.

A huge freaky heap of all kinds of toys, mixed together. This is just a small piece of the heap.

We even brought up some of the toys in the basement, and the toys from the kids rooms, and put them in the heap so nearly all the house's toys - and all the upstairs games and puzzles, were out on the floor at once.

Here's the cupboards, emptied, with their contents barfed out in front of them:

It brings to mind the near-end of Cat in the Hat, where the children say, "This mess is so big, and so deep, and so tall, we can not clean it up. There is no way at all."

So little Buzz took a SpiderMan break, and I took a PhotoOp break. Since he was leaping the whole time, none of the pix are great. Here, he leaped right out of the photo frame.

So anyway, the toys. She wanted us to take that giant heap and to sort it into bins, and then declutter.

The worst part was that the decluttering was slow, and Hollie had to revive me twice, plus give me several pep talks on the value of decluttering and a sparsely-toyed home. Which was fine, but then we ran out of time. And she had to leave. Before the mess was done. Leaving me to do some on my own.

::blink blink:: did you catch that? On. My. Own.

It was too much for me.

Okay, I'm half kidding. We got through the toys, and she really didn't want to leave without it being done, I could tell. But she needed to and I boldly reassured her that not only would I not die, but I would sort through the puzzles and games returning odd pieces to their games and making sure puzzles have all their pieces and stuff like that. I decluttered some, and then neatly put away all the things that weren't quite done that we could finish tomorrow.

So, even though it's not Hollierginized, and it's not done, it looks pretty good, don't you think?

Maybe there's hope for me after all.

Thus Endeth the Third Day

Today was, I think, the most stressful day so far, even though we only worked 9-2 (well, it took us until 2:30 to wrap things up); artsy craftsy stuff have always been sort of overwhelming, in part because I want to keep it all, in part because there's so many in-progress stuff and crafty-gifts to deal with.

So when it was all spread out on the table and I didn't know what to do with it, I was freaked out and felt like we weren't making any progress on it. Again I felt like I was just staring helplessly at all the unsorted piles, but Hollie gave me tasks, papers to go through, and I sorted them while she thought and organized and tried on different containers. Hollie brought one of her daughters today, and the girls sorted crayons and tested pens and peeled the paper off broken crayons for future-melting purposes.

And in the end we DID get it done:

http://www.andfam.net/kim/OrgoDay3/OrgoDay3.html

more or less. In reality, much of what was in there was 'schooly' (because it was our art/school cupboard last time I officially organized it, and now most of the schooly stuff will NOT live there. So all that schooly stuff is sorted into different boxes awaiting the day we do the schooly stuff. So it's not like EVERYTHING we took out is back in it's home.

But on the other hand, at the end of the work time all those flux boxes were stacked back in the guest room and not visible. So the task at hand - finishing off the crafty cupboards in the dining room, is complete.

Tomorrow we move on to Family room and/or living room.

For now ... I need a nap.

Thus Endeth the Second Day

Phew, working 9-6 makes for a long day!

Sorry I couldn't post sooner; In addition to working until nearly six, tonight was also my date out with Tobi-Wan, and then after getting kids to bed I had a little putting away and tidying up to do. So I'll try to make this quick.

Organizing Day Two -- back up two posts if you're not up to speed with us here, LOL.

Day Two Pix:

please note that the LAST pic somehow showed up first on the page, but after that they're in order top to bottom ... so think of the first pic as a preview, LOL, and then the before pix.
http://www.andfam.net/kim/OrgoDay2/OrgoDay2.html

We really finished the *kitchen* today, but still have the dining room / craft areas to do tomorrow ~ the schooly/crafty cupboards intimidate me, but it will be nice to have them done and done well.

We worked all day. We agreed to take a lunch break, but they worked while they ate. I told them that for lunch they were no longer my Organizing Helpers but my guests, but apparently they really wanted to keep working... so I finished my yogurt smoothie quick and went back to work as much as I could.

My children were a little more tired and squirrelly today, but we were still able to keep working, sorting, cleaning -- I even pitched some of my beloved spices!

By the end of the day everything (!) in the kitchen proper (except cleaning OUT the oven, which I was going to do tonight but will have to do tomorrow night) is done. Hollie said she's done houses where it's taken 4-5 days, so us finishing a pretty big kitchen in 2 days wasn't bad at all. You know me, I was afraid my kitchen was the worst evah. But apparently not. We had a bag and a half of trash, and a BIG box for good will, plus continued to fill the many boxes of things that go elsewhere.

The method was really the same as yesterday; take everything out of a zone, weed through it for different room stuff, declutter and toss stuff, and then she put it all back in. And Hollie's son put shelf paper on many of the shelves and that made them look much nicer. One very nice thing about this method was, at the end of the day, when we were wrapping it up, we just stacked all the "elsewhere" boxes up in the guest room and the kitchen was clean, and those boxes are just waiting quietly for us in the morning.

Tomorrow we're starting at 9 again but only going until 2, I think.

I need to fold laundry, but instead I'm going to bed, I can't believe it's already after 11 and it's been a very long day.

You'll be proud to hear that I did not check my email ONCE during that 9-6 window, not even a peek. And I didn't even die not checking! ;-)

Thus Endeth the First Day

Stop.

If you didn't already read my previous post about "The Organizer Lady" coming (Let's call her Hollie. That's her name.) go read that first.

Okay, you're back? Ready to hear how day 1 went? Good, good. Fasten your seatbelts.

Day 1

Okay, here's the Day 1 summary:

pix of day 1:
http://www.andfam.net/kim/OrgoDay1/OrgoDay1.html

So Hollie and her son came with boxes and trash bags and rags and cleaners. And she explained that she likes to start at the front door and work around.

I was appalled that the first thing inside the front door is the JUNK DRAWERS and did NOT want to start there. But start we did. She jumped right in.

We labeled boxes as we came to things: office-y stuff, toys, kitchen gadgets, tools, misc. (not much went in there!) Goodwill, health & beauty, kids' rooms, etc (I think there were more boxes ...) and we just started tossing things into those boxes. We got the drawers emptied out and wiped out and she took out all the organizity holders inside and washed them all off well, and she started moving stuff around. Most of the office-y stuff, tools, and JUNK did not go back in. All that stuff stayed in its respective boxes for later, we'll keep adding TO those boxes as we work our way around the house to where that box should live. So only the kitchen gadget one got emptied, really.

This was slightly different from other methods I've used where I had a "put away" box for things that just went elsewhere ... that box has always ended up big and full and scary to me. Today we ended with a big pile of small boxes of different categories. So if I wanted to put things away (although I'll wait until we work around/through the house so that those other places have some logic and space) I would just have one box at a time, not a giant mixed and overwhelming pile.

By the end of the time (we worked 10 - 3) we had a box and a trash bag full of stuff for goodwill, which she took with her.

We filled about a bag and a half of trash.

And we did a lot of cupboards and all the drawers.

Hollie just worked steadily. She enjoyed arranging and re-arranging the things to see how they would fit and what made sense.

Those are the two biggest differences between how she worked and how *I* work (or, um, don't work, as the case may be) ...

1.) she (and her son) just kept working. She didn't take breaks to check email or sit and blog ;-) ...

2.) she didn't seem to feel the need to figure it all out FIRST and THEN put stuff in it's place. She said once or twice that we might move those things again. I gasped, realizing her method was breaking the "only touch stuff once, decide now" rule of decluttering. But it allowed her to keep moving, being willing to change things later if need be. She hasn't had to RE-move things much (yet) but it was interesting to think that option was open. LOL. I often get daunted by the whole "where SHOULD it BEST live" part and never come up with the BEST plan, so I falter.

I did notice her general undauntedness compared to mine. She had me take things out of the cupboard above the microwave, which has been quite crammed full in an awkward way. Take it all out and wipe out the cupboard. So when it was ALL out I was a little freaked that all the stuff was piled up and some of it I wasn't sure what to do with, and so it FELT like ALL of it was a giant "ack, what do I do now" but she just worked with me to put things away one at a time -- things I rarely use in the top, back of the cupboard, things I use frequently down close where I can reach ... she put all my glass bowls up high and cheerfully moved them down when I said, "wait, I use them and can't reach them ..."

So in the end, we did all the lower *kitchen* cupboards and one of the upper ones, and under the sink. She started on the upper pantry ones and got those 1/3 or more done before it was time for them to leave.

Meanwhile, her son just worked steadily and quietly. He helped sort through the junk at first, them moved on to cleaning things. While we had a drawer empty he wiped it out thoroughly. When that was done, he scrubbed the counter, wiped out under the sink, washed all around the sink, scrubbed the hard water scale guck off the dish drainer and made space for the dish drainer to live under the sink. When ALL that was done, he washed the stove thoroughly, removing all the burners and scrubbing them and even removing the screen on the vent and washing it

When THAT was done he kept working, cleaning the screens on the kitchen window and washing both sides of the windows and the front door glass, too!

I was amazed. He didn't ask what to do next, although she suggested a few things once or twice. He just kept working.

I was a little nervous that while they did this they were thinking "Ew, has this oven ever been cleaned?" or "how could anyone let their windows get so cobwebby and gross?" but if they were thinking those things they didn't let it show.

The only part I felt a little bad about was sometimes I wasn't sure how to help. I really am not good at putting stuff back IN drawers logically, and don't naturally think "oh I'll scrub this while I wait" like her son apparently does, so I sort of stood dumbly by, watching, and tried to ask "what should I do next" which kept making Hollie laugh. I couldn't tell if it was the "what, is she serious?" type of laugh ... I worried that she thought I was just one odd duck of a woman. But if she did think so, she was very gracious and didn't let on.

SOoooo we're going to keep going next week, date and time to be determined. I MIGHT even keep working on my own.

She did leave me with an assignment:
1.) return all those pop cans/bottles that are in the way
2.) go through the recipe notebooks and get rid of what we don't want
3.) if I want, go through the plate/cup cupboard

but she also said, other than the pop bottles, if I didn't feel up to doing it alone, I didn't have to, that we could wait and do it as a team.

HEYYYYyyyyyy, I'm on the cleaning team with Hollie! I didn't get cut! LOL!

Woooo! I made the team!

Although, I must admit, if she were paying me to be a helper, I'm not sure I would still have a job, LOL.

Almost Like Being on Television

Have you ever watched those shows on TV where someone swoops in and helps a poor pathetic clutter-bug family get organized?

And you watch it thinking, "Wow, I would love to have someone do that with me. If they were nice. And didn't pit me against my husband in a big yard sale. And didn't mock my stuff."

Well I have.

And I even went so far, a year ago or so, to surf and see if there was anyone in my area who did that. There were some down near Detroit, but as far as I could tell their rates were more than I'd pay and their radius of employment did not extend to my location. And I figured I'd never really do it anyway.

But then I saw a post on my local homeschooling group's classified ads.

For someone local. And not just that, but a fellow Christian homeschooler. Who even offered a free email and in-home consultation.

And so.

It begins.

Today is Day 1.

Well, Day 2, technically, since the in-home walk through sort of counts as day one.

But today is the day we actually START decluttering and organizing.

Meet Hollie and her son:

Hollie is an organizer, who, having come from a distant past of clutter now helps organize for friends and family and is expanding into a business of helping poor schmucks like Kim.

Meet Kim:

See Kim's new glasses? Do you like them?

Wait, that's not the point here. I was going to take a picture of me sitting and chewing my nails looking nervous yet hopeful about starting today. But in reality, I have to do some panic-cleaning before Hollie comes, even if my mess is why she's coming. So I'll use yesterday's not-yet-posted (well, NOW it's posted) new glasses picture. Kill two blogs with one stone.

Anyway, Meet Kim. Kim is a disorganized doofus of a slob. Actually Kim has made reasonable progress over the years in coming from near-total chaos, but has decided to call in help for a big push to get over the hump, making her life organized and smooth running.

Today it begins.

Meet Kim's Kitchen:

As the first room one enters after Kim's small entryway, as well as the heart of the home, the organizing attack begins here.

Now, in true TV style, having met the participants, we'll cut away to a commercial and when we return some things will, miraculously, be done. Especially since I don't REALLY have time to sit and blog about this right now. ;-)

Oh, and a note to my local innately-organized friends ~ please do not be offended that I've gone this route to hire someone rather than have you over. I do not doubt your abilities, having seen your lovely homes. I just felt better about inviting a stranger to work with me and my foot dragging clutter loving lazy whiny self than expose you to all that. Truth be told, I was a little afraid that you, my good friends, wouldn't like me after working with me. Yeah, yeah, I know that probably sounds dumb, but still. It's because I love you that I didn't take you up on your offers to help me. Of course, now I've met Hollie and she's very sweet and encouraging and so I'm sure we'll become friends and then I'll have to fire her and find another stranger, ha ha. Just kidding, Hollie. Sort of. ;-)

A Trip to Whiting Forest - or why I could never be a real photographer

Here are just a few of the bazilliondy pictures I took this weekend when my sister's family was visiting and we went to Whiting Forest.

I could never be a real photographer because, while I like taking a bazilliondy pictures, I have a lot of ADD when it comes to siting down and sorting through them and deciding which of the bazilliondy are good enough to blog or post. Especially when there's hundreds of shots up through autumn leaves to the sky.

So here are some for you. Let's do family first, artsy fartsy second.

Eminoodle pondering autumn:

The Grand Lunar and I ~ I'm squinting but my eyes aren't quite closed ... not ... quite ...

Tobi-Wan - or should I say Toadi-wan? - squats under a fallen tree (bigger pic at Flickr):

Tobi-wan and iCat leap from the tower rails (click for larger pic at Flickr)

Buzz in a tree (also bigger at flickr - can I just say CFB - click for big?):

Buzz, BigE, and Gark (CFB)

Looking up at the family in the tower:

All of us. Well, except me. (CFB)

We also saw a pileated woodpecker, although I wasn't able to get a great shot (CFB):

And Buzz found some rather worried Mac & Bubbie berries:

Earlier that day, iliacat and gark got to wash our skylights from the roof - a very exciting task. I should've reminded gark to look through the clean part:

Lastly, here's a few obligatory artsy fartsy type shots, all of these are click-to-Flickrable:

My Sweet Woot Reprise

I meant to post this last week, but am easily sidetracked. (oh, really?)

We are the proud recipients of another woot! deal ... specifically one of the oft-wooted refurb iRobot Roombas! Yeah, baby, we're moving into the 1980's with the Robot Vacuum! Remember how, in the 80's, we dreamed about all the futuristic devices we'd all soon have?

Now I have one! WOOT!

My sweet woot Hm, my woot Hm, my woot

I really want to see you
Really want to watch you, woot
Really want to vac with you
But you charge so long, my woot

My sweet woot
Hm, my woot
Hm, my woot

I really want to Roomba, woot
Really want iRobot woot
Really want to charge you, woot
And it won't take long, my woot
(hallelujah)

And I must admit ... it's pretty cool. It was even brave enough to go under our bed! ::shudder::

It isn't perfect, but like the FlyLady says, "housework, even done poorly, still blesses your family" ... or something like that. it does a better job than, um, not doing it.

Perhaps you're thinking what I was thinking, and still think in my guilty mind ... why buy a robot to do what the children should be trained to do?

Well ... all I can say is ... um ... the robot is way cool. WAY COOL!

Double-click the irobot picture to play video:

And look at what enthusiasm the iRobot evokes! How often do you get a whole herd of children lined up to, um, watch housework?

Besides, I'm sure by the time my children are grown manual vacuuming will be a thing of the past. The future is here, baby!

The Poor Child and His Hat

I finished Sputnik's (The Child Formerly Known As LittleD) hat ...

it's a cute hat.

It's ... um ... pretty roomy. Gives him room to grow a giant crop of poofy hair, I guess.

You might recall this is the second hat I've attempted for him. The first was a bit small. It's like living the goldilocks story. The 3rd hat would be just right. Except I'll probably stop here and move on because the child, bless his sweet little heart, loves the roomy hat with extra hair-growth room.

I frogged the first point twice before being happy with the points. Why I didn't frog at the start, when I knew the hat would be extra roomy, is beyond me. I guess I had a frogaversion. But maybe next time I'll be bold enough to frog early. We'll see.

Isn't he just the cutest thing?

Even when he's also a little blurry?

Turns out I have Super Powers

I have a nagging feeling I've discovered Super Powers before, but I can't remember what they are. Maybe I have the SuperHero Power of forgetfulness?

But that's not what I discovered today.

Today I discovered that I had the amazing ability to look straight through reality as if it weren't there.

I had been out shopping, and came home and dumped my bags next to the ones the children had carried in for me. I do remember thinking the kitchen was even more trashed than I thought I'd left it.

A bit later The Grand Lunar asked me if we'd received some things we ordered. Things that would come in a Big Unmissable Box. We had received a package earlier, and I didn't remember seeing one by the door or on the way in through the kitchen, and there wasn't any placed on his desk by the children while I was gone. So I told him no.

I realized a while later that, given the state of chaos in the kitchen, it was possible that a smaller-than-expected box might have been overlooked, particularly if I was as distracted as usual.

So I went back to check.

And there, in plain sight, was not one but TWO HUGE boxes. Well, maybe not huge, but big and unmissable.

Also, I ripped the rear-view mirror off my mom's van without even trying. With my bare hands. Apparently in addition to my ability to look through reality, I have super human strength.

When I handed it back to my mom, she claimed that it falls off twice a year. I think she's just in denial, not ready to deal with having a superhero for a daughter. If she thought about that too much, she might worry that she has superhero powers herself. If I know my mom, she doesn't want that kind of pressure.

So. Anyway.

The ability to look right through reality as if it weren't there. And superhuman strength.

Wow.

If those things don't make me special, I don't know what would.

Just A Little Post ... no, wait, a long rambly one.

some ramblings for you ...

Sometime this month is my Knittiversary ... I started knitting October 2006! Maybe I'll do a short summary of what I've knit in this first year.

Speaking of knitting ... that 2nd hat? I got to the end, where I should divide the stitches into 3 groups and kitchener them together and do the icord ends, when I changed my mind. Yes, me, winging it. I'm sure you're shocked and appalled. I decided to divide into three, but do each third onto three dpns and knit points, decreasing every other row. I'm trying to keep up with the waffle pattern, but the decreases make it confusing, so I'm ... erm ... winging the waffle pattern now. We'll see how it turns out.

Many deep thoughts rolling around in my head. One of them revolves around something I heard in a sermon a few weeks ago ... that the worst thing that could happen to a Christ-following believer who listens to a false teacher is that they'd lose their joy as they turned to trusting in something other than Christ. Now I don't really think I've followed any false teachers ... I do think that some of the things I've tried to do in my walk, that began as heartfelt obedience to Christ's grace, have become ... have ... weighed me down and become my focus, although not my hopes of redemption ... and that they are, perhaps, in part why I've lost the joy in my walk with Christ.

There's a lot more rolling around with that thought, but I don't want to start bawling and typing and typing and bawling. So we'll leave it at that.

Wait, no, apparently I'm rambling on. Go figure. :-)

~ I have struggled with feeling joyless, knowing I should feel joy, and not sure why not. And I think, in part, perhaps in whole, it is because I need to reclaim Christ as my "first love" and re-claim the understanding that all things come down to Christ and His mercy. To the cross and what He's done for me.

By way of analogy, I thought the other day that I felt a little like I've been clinging to the face of a cliff. At the moment, how I got there doesn't matter as much as what next. I've always been a quitter when it comes to athletic events, and I have no real desire to go rock climbing. As a teen I had a chance to rock climb and repel and I remember standing at the top of the repelling cliff being frozen in terror. I remember the instructors reminding me what to do, how to start, and me thinking I was going to do it, but my body just wouldn't. I couldn't move. I remember the instructors starting to get a little frustrated with me because I just wouldn't start down.

I feel like God feels that way about me. I believe with all my heart that He's there with me as I hang on that cliff. I know He holds the ropes secure and I won't fall to my death. I know I'm secure in Him. And yet ... I'm frozen, not sure what to do next. I'm sure He's there telling me where to put my hands and feet.

Maybe I've been listening too much to other people. Maybe I've been so scared that I can't make out what He's saying. The Bible tells me that His sheep know His voice, and it troubles me that when I need it most, hanging on the side of a cliff, weary and frozen with helplessness, that I can't hear the simple step-by-step instructions He would surely be giving. Does he want me to let go, reach up so he can catch me? Does he want me to move a hand or foot this way or that, and He'll coach me up step by step? Why am I having trouble hearing the next step, much less acting on it?

After I rambled about that in my journal I asked Him for that one next move. The ONE thing I needed to hear / do ...

and He pointed me to an article about the core of our walk being the cross of Christ. Remembering that all things come down to that.

I'm still trying to figure out what that means to me, to make that the center of all I do, all I process ... yet another concept I comprehend intellectually but am not sure how to apply. But it rings true that I've drifted from that. I mean, I still know and believe that, but I haven't been LIVING with the cross of Christ at the center.

Bring me back to that, Lord, teach me how to live with the cross of Christ at the center of who I am and what I do.

One hat, two hat, green hat, blue hat

I've been knitting some hats, LittleD (didn't we say we were going to find him a new blog name? Hmmm) asked me to knit him one, and my dear friend Robin (hi Robin!) had sent me some beautiful blue and green yarn. So I found two patterns (because I can't knit just one!) and I got started. The first hat turned out to be too small for LittleD but I was hoping it would fit Buzz, rather than frog it and start over. And it does. Barely. So I started in on a 2nd, bigger one. Which might be a little big. But the boy's head will grow, right? Apparently I really really don't like to frog.

Oh, I forgot, the yarn & pattern info. I can't tell you the yarn because it doesn't have it's wrappers but it's a worsted weight variegated color yarn, and I'm pretty sure it's acrylic.

The base of the hats are this pattern: Maggie's Rags Tassled Hat
But instead of two points, I decided I wanted to try three, like this pattern: Iceland Printed Wool Baby Hat

So I followed the first pattern as written, or at least I thought I did, but when I was almost done and re-read it I realized I was doing the waffle stitch wrong - I somehow didn't process row 3 and 4, so I was just doing rows 1 and 2 - so instead of my knit-into stitches alternating their position, they lined up, making fatter lines. Which I like, so that was cool. But on hat #2 I did decide to try it the right way. Oh, and the first hat was a little too small to knit on circular needles, so I ended up needing to learn the two-circlulars thing, which worked out well, but I like the larger hat on one set better. I could do the two-circulars to make socks or something, but I am pretty sure I'd prefer the 3-4 dpns for that, having done that already.

Then, when I got to the end of the hat, instead of stitching it across into 2 points, I divided it into 3 and kitchener-stitched to 3 of the end of each point, then did the icord thingie as listed.

Both hats look chunkier in their pictures than mine turned out, despite using worsted weight yarn and the same size needles. On the 3-pointed picture I think it's because their hat was tinier yet. Anyway, I like how the hats are turning out, and fairly pleased with my combining of the two patterns.

So anyway, here are the two hats together, the finished and the half-done larger one. Note how differently the yarn lines up on the 2nd hat, it must be just the right circumference for the striping pattern. Funky.

one hat, two hat
green and blue hat,
this one is a little small
this one's in a big big car

Yeah, I really held up the blog entry an entire day to put all those pics together into an animated gif. Excellent use of my time? Perhaps not. That's Buzz in the little hat, enjoying it in the car on the long and bouncy ride back from Wisconsin. Which, for those of you who might not know, is pronounced Wis-GAHN-sin. Anyway, I hope that picture doesn't give anyone a seizure.

Holding up the blog entry wouldn't normally be a good deal, but yesterday I was flying high on paranoia, having read my wonderful friend Face to the Sunshine's blog (isn't that a great blogging name?!) about occasionally cleaning up her links and how we shouldn't be offended if we got cut, and it struck fear in my heart, I was sure she was preparing me for getting cut. Which, really, is fine, because everyone should have the right to change their links as they see fit, I agree wholeheartedly with that. But still don't want to know I'm being cut, LOL. But today I see that I'm almost tenured there, LOL! So I'm safe. Now if I could just shake all the paranoia and anxiety clouding my interpretation of the rest of the world, I'd be all set.

I still have something deep to blog about, but that'll have to wait, so the hats have their moment of glory.

as a side note: I want to make one of those little sidebar thingies that measures the progress of my knitting projects, but I really want to re-do the entire blog, and that's a big undertaking ... ramble, ramble ...

So ... back to LittleD, who originally requested the hat that started this post. What should we change his blog name to? It's the 50th anniversary of Sputnik's launch this week, should we change him to Sputnik? That would put him in space with The Grand Lunar, and he does barrel around like a frantically launched rocket sometimes ... what do you think? Does it fit? Or should I hold out for a better blog name?

While We Were Gone - part 1

so we were gone, on a trip to Wisconsin

we saw family, friends, and other friends

it was a good time, but tiring. I crammed a lot of plans into a few short days. And bookended it with all-day driving for the other two days.

One of the things we did was meet some friends for a cornfield maze at Treinen Farm near Lodi, Wisconsin.

We arrived before most of the group, so the children played in a big "sandbox" of dried corn. It had a big corrugated plastic slide which apparently was really cool.

Some of the children in the corn:

Buzz in the corn:

The corn maze was 15 acres !!!! In the shape of an enchanted castle! Pretty gihugic!

The above picture was taken from the tower at the edge of the maze. You could climb up and look down on the maze. They had big flags on poles that you could carry, to look for your color nearby if you were separated from the group. We didn't take a flag. But we didn't lose anyone, fortunately.

They gave us one portion of the map, and there were places marked on the map to find another piece of the map. They also gave us an emergency map that we were not supposed to open, and you'd get a prize or something if you found all the pieces and didn't open the emergency map and found your way out. It was pretty neat. We let the children read the map and lead and they did very well! Better than I would've done. Once you were in the middle of the maze, the corn was tall and the maze walls were "thick" and you really couldn't tell - without the maps - where you were.

Here's the Grand Lunar, as seen through the corn.

The cell phone service was poor out in the cornfield boonies, but the child-signal was a strong 6-bars. I really wish this picture had come out better, but oh well. Maybe someday I'll get some artsy fartsy group portrait done like this.

Anyway, it was a nice visit, I'm glad we went. I had a lot more pix but I don't want to bog people down. Plus, I'm tired. So maybe I'll do another installment later. We'll see.

addendum, at Karen's request ~ yes, we survived! We had to backtrack a few minor times, but were never lost and never had to open the emergency map. The prizes were confusing, there were extra secret spots where you could get hole punches and if you got all the maze pieces and the punches you got some other-other prize, and we were sort of confused at the end because we survived but had no extra punches. So ... maybe we could've claimed something but didn't? I was just glad to emerge with the same number of children I started with, no more, no less.