What I did this Week: well last week and a little this week

  Last week, I started a sewing project that I will probably look back on as a landmark achievement in my career as an amateur seamstress. Unless, that is, I become really good one day and work for Chanel, which is highly unlikely.

  I present, for your viewing pleasure, a Wonder Woman baby dress.

 

I needed to practice my applique skills, so I made a uniform for my night job.

 

 

 

 

Something New

  I have hated dishes for many years. I will not try and soften that sentiment by saying I strongly disliked them. I hated doing the dishes and there is no way around that fact. In the past, I have written an ode to my hatred of dishes and said that people who claim they like washing dishes are liars. That was very immature of me.
  In spite of my hatred of dishes, I find myself doing them quite often. In my family, we siblings trade chores in the kitchen from week to week. One week, my responsibility will be to wipe off the table and counters; the next week I will be in charge of sweeping. And, of course, sooner than later, it will be my turn to wash the dishes. While I will do the dishes when it is my job, I will be sure to let everyone around me know that I am not enjoying the task before me.
  Last week, my turn to do dishes came around yet again. I decided, this time, that I would try something different. Lately, I have been convicted about complaining while I wash the dishes. Whining about dishes is not constructive, or uplifting, and it is definitely not godly. So last week, every time I went to the sink to wash the dishes, I kept my mouth shut. Complaining does take effort, and I figured I would put that effort into finishing my task.
  I also prayed. In retrospect, I could have prayed to find washing dishes enjoyable, but I did not. I just prayed that God would allow me to get the dishes done quickly and that He would control my mouth. God did both of those things. He also did more for me than just keep my mouth shut. By His grace, He helped me to see I genuinely have no reason to complain about doing the dishes. They are a part of life. While they may not be fun, they are certainly not awful. Then are plenty of far harder things I could be tasked with doing.
  I still dislike dishes. Maybe I should now pray that I will like washing them. But right now, I am happy to see that hatred softening, by the grace of God. Perhaps I will one day come to place where I relish washing dirty plates and pots and pans. Or perhaps, in my bumbling humanity, I will completely reverse any progress made in my attitude towards dish-washing. At the end of the day though, I was reminded that God is more than willing to help me in every aspect of my life. And He is so ready to pour His grace on me. Even in something as mundane as dishes.

What I did this Week: cooking and not really cleaning.

  This week started with the tail-end of a three day weekend. Three-day-weekends always frustrate me. I am never quite sure what day it is, after Monday passes by in a semblance of idleness. The rest of the week feels weird for lack of better words to describe it.

  So with that ramble out of the way, on Monday my family and I went to our church's Memorial day picnic.

 

   Tuesday I made chimichangas. A dish I dread making nearly as much as I love eating.

 

   Wednesday, I baked bread. For the past few months, it seems, I have not baked much bread. This mostly because one of my younger brothers has taken bread-baking duty upon himself. And since he is good at it, I am by no means going to protest. This week I did bake bread, and I enjoyed the egg polished, poppy-seed sprinkled work of my hands.

 

  Thursday was a rainy day and I made breakfast for dinner.

 

  Friday, my brother, my Dad and I painted our living room.

 

  Today I did not clean my room exactly, but I did organize my bookshelf a little bit. I have a problem when it comes to buying books. Still, I was able to find some in my collection that I can stand to give away, or at least take to Half-Price books so I can get store credit and get more books.

 

And so went my week!

 

But before I go, I leave you with a song.

What I did this Week: bookish

  This year my New Year's resolution is to read a book a week, as I believe I have stated before. In the past few weeks I have gotten behind, so this week I made a courageous effort to try and catch up. Maybe I should read some shorter book later so I can get ahead.

  Anyways, on Monday I made quite a bit of progress on my cousin's graduation dress.

 

 Tuesday, I finished Hamlet.

 

  Wednesday, I finished Riders of the Purple Sage.

 

  And Friday I started Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas.

 
  Today I woke up early (for a Saturday) and made hash for breakfast, and it was good.

 

  This afternoon brought a lot more progress on my cousin's dress. Here is the inside of it. All that is left is for my to hem it and sew in a hook and eye.

 

And so went my week!

 

   Oh, and my favorite band just happened to announce the title of their upcoming album and release two new tracks. So I will leave you with 'Float' by Switchfoot.



What I did this Week: after awhile

  For the past three weeks, I have not blogged at all. It is not that I have been that I have been suffering from a severe case of writer's block so much as I had lacked the mental organization needed to put thoughts onto paper. I am working on that though. There are a couple of drafts that will hopefully make their way to the blog-sphere this coming week (well, they will not make their way there, I will have to put them there). In the meantime, here are some pictures of the past week's activities.
 
  Monday, my brother Daniel and I put up a trellis in our garden for the pea plants. Whether or not they will live after being forced off the ground and into the air is yet to be seen.

    Tuesday, I read this oft' quoted  passage from Hamlet.

 

   Thursday, I made Indian food.

  Friday, we went out to the Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown Texas. It was fun until their was a wreck, and then we went home. There are a lot of things I would like to say about the experience that I will refrain from putting on the internet.

Some of my family.



 I will leave you with the Nerd-fighter rep.

 

And so went my week.

What I did this Week: food and stuff

  This week was not particularly eventful.

  Monday I made pizza bites.

 

   Tuesday, not much happened. But I snapped this picture of my brother riding the heights of maturity.

 

  Wednesday morning, I woke up a decent hour and made waffles.

 

  Thursday called for some upholstery work.

 

  Friday morning I mopped the floor and for a glorious thirty minutes it was clean.

 

And so went my week.



What I did this Week: A Shirt Story

  This past week, I did not take enough pictures to make a worthwhile What I did this Week post. So instead, here is a shirt I made over the course of this past week.

  Monday, I cut out my fabric.

 

   Tuesday, I sewed in the pockets.

 

  Wednesday, I sewed the front and back together and Thursday I sewed in the sleeves.

 

   Friday I hemmed it.



 





  Today I sewed in the placket and collar.

 

   And since we all know plaid was the color of the nineties, here's a lovely, grungy self-portrait.

  And there's another plaid shirt for my clothing arsenal. 

 

And that seems like a great Segway into what I am going to say next. DC Talk was hands down the greatest band of the nineties. They never should have taken a hiatus, end of story. Well, this week TobyMac released a song featuring his fellow, former DC Talk members. And it is good, so listen up.

  

What I did this Week: Late Again.

  Last week I downloaded Window 10, and I don't care for it. Once I was finally used to the quirks of Window 8.1, they gave me another set of quirks to deal with. So I re-opened Internet Explorer, and I will be using that instead of Microsoft edge for my internet perusing

  Anyways, Sunday, I read The Council of Elrond which is a chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring. Anyone who has read the Lord of the Rings will understand what an accomplishment this is. Long though it may be, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

   Monday evening, I made cinnamon rolls for dinner.

 

 

   Tuesday evening, I started to made pumpkin bread without checking to see if we had any eggs. When it came time to add the eggs to the batter, I opened the fridge and found we had none. So I walked out to the chicken coop in the backyard, opened the door, and found four eggs waiting in the nest. And that goes to show just how much God cares about me and my petty little problems.

 

 

   Saturday, I weeded the garden. And surprisingly I enjoyed myself.

 

And thus went my week.

What I did this Week: some thoughts from bath-houses

  This past week, I volunteered during the Family Conference at ALERT. Sadly, I did not take many pictures because I was working. So instead, I will just write some thoughts about cleaning bath-houses since that is what I did.

  It does not matter how pretty a person's hair is when it is on their head, they need to clean it out of the drain after they have taken a shower.

  Flush the toilet. Please, just do.

  If you are a big girl, clean up after yourself.

  Personal items left in the bath-house, no. Just no.

  Soap left lying around does not clean the surrounding area. I think it actually attracts bacteria.

  Oh, and hair in the sink, clean that up too.

  It is not that hard to pick up paper you dropped on the floor.

  When there are signs on the door stating members of the opposite sex are present, please regard them, more for our sake then for yours.

  All that makes cleaning bath-houses sound much worse than it is. At the end of the day, it was not that bad. Hosing down floors, squeegeeing mirrors, restocking paper goods, stepping out into the sunshine every five minutes, a body can learn to enjoy it. At the same time, you can learn things about your fellow human beings you may not have realized you did not really want to know.

  And that was part of my week at least.