Almost Home

I need to carve out some designated hatching time.  The kind of time when I chase Jesse and the baby out of the apartment so I can have some quiet, recharge time.  It isn’t the same when baby is napping.  I want something more predictable and boring.  I need that little bit of good, clear focus.  But in all reality, that’s why my body wakes up in the dead of night after I’ve gotten enough sleep.  It’s my creative psyke saying, “Time to be creative.”  I love it, but I miss the more traditional route.  Eh, maybe once we get a bigger place, that will change.  It’s hard to find quiet in 700 square feet with a baby.

We’re going home today.  Already picked up groceries at Sprouts, so I just need to pack up the car and baby and go.  Jesse won’t be arriving home until super late, so hopefully we’ll get going soon.  Just a few things to finish up here and then I get to spend tomorrow resting and playing housewife.

Grrrrr

I’m really angry I need to shop for milk, diapers, and trash bags but we can’t get to the store for awhile and we can’t buy milk until either late tonight or tomorrow. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Grounded

I’ve been working on the floor this week. I just figured out why. Hui.1 is trying to roll over but he hasn’t quite figured out how to roll over from his back to his tummy. He can sometimes roll from his tummy to his back, but he has to be in the right mood for it. Since he’s either on the floor or playing on his gym, he’s down there and I need to be down there next to him too. So I’ve been working on the floor. I feel like a little kid again. I also had Jesse.1 lounging all over the apartment floor for the week she was here, so that also has something to do with it.

I’ve been diligently working on my Rock on a Rope collection. I feel that this is the year of “understated elegance”. Something that can be used for both causal, lazy days and that extra bit of something special for more dressier occasions. We’re busy women, taking over the world and taking care of everyone but ourselves. Some women can’t afford a huge piece of bling and I get that. That’s why this collection is so dear to me. It’s just enough femininity and practicality rolled into a tiny package. And those modern day rock hounds can appreciate my love of obscure, rough stones.

So come on, get your rock on.

Peddling Around The House

Jesse has a jujitsu tournament later this afternoon, so we’re bumming around the apartment until we need to leave after lunch.  I am taking advantage of the cool weather before it gets too hot.  I promised him I’d tidy up the apartment.  Housekeeping isn’t an easy job.  I understand why Penelope Trunk says your house will be cleaner if you have a housewife instead of a career woman as a wife.  I’m stuck somewhere between those two, so yeah, the apartment gets messy until I put actual effort into cleaning.  Usually it’s Monday evenings after work, but I slacked off this week.  That’s what lazy Saturday mornings are for.

Before:

After:

I wiped down the bathroom counter, cleaned the mirror for the first time (damn, I love cleaning supplies from METHOD), and made room for the changing pad.  Since there isn’t any room left over there, all of my jewelry tumbling needs to be done in the kitchen.  Annoying, but whatever.  It’s better in there since the Dawn is there and the AC/Fan blocks out the noise if necessary.  I actually do like the sound of the tumbler.  Reminds me of a waterfall.  I need to get another barrel so I can run two at once.  Jesse wants me to get rid of one, but it still lives under the bathroom sink.

My jewelry supplies almost always migrate towards the eating table.  It’s simply more comfortable there for the most part.  And it’s easier to get up and out of the chair since the workbench chair is more of a bar stool.  But I wiped it down, dried it (marble needs to be dried immediately after wiping), and added some fresh place mats.  Eventually I need to figure out how to get them to be nice and white again.  There are tea stains stuck in them.  And yes, the iPad gets its own place mat, sometimes replaced by Dominion cards.  I won 2 rounds last night and I didn’t take notes about what cards we randomly pulled.  Grrr.  But whenever the game is more about buys and actions, I seem to outsmart my honey bun.  SCORE!

My workbench is taking shape very nicely.  Slowly getting ready for a much needed photoshoot of a few new pieces.  Then it’s back to either the designing board or marketing board.  Probably marketing.  I have stuff I need to post on Etsy and then Urban Maille.  The busy-ness of an artist will never truly cease, but it’s good for the soul. ♥  It’s also teaching me good lessons about time management and why it’s beneficial to be organized.  I really am organized, but it’s chaotic organizing.  The cabinet has definitely helped though.  Here’s some baby stuff already nicely tucked away… I can almost guarantee it won’t be this pretty after he arrives. :-O

My chainmaille supplies are so pretty.  Everything is within my reach and nicely tucked away.  Being this organized makes my heart sing. ♪ ♥ ♫  Now to finish tidying up below the workbench and the hall cabinet.  Getting there… slowly.

Nesting Full Throttle

I bought myself a Dyson DC24 tonight.  It’s the special edition red one and the last one on the shelf at Target.  Yeah, I’m insane to be drooling over a vacuum cleaner, but with the baby coming and the current one so not up to par (yes, I sound very snobby, but it’s amusing) with MY standards and it stinks, yeah… and I’m in love.  I already vacuumed under the eating table and the nooks and crannies of the kitchen.  Heck, I found more glass from the broken wine bottle that fell off the fridge a few months ago.  Totally justified purchase.

At least I’m not the only one going insane with the nesting… my dad bought 4 more finches, 3 angelfish (he already killed one by feeding them too much), and 1 more goldfish.  And he got his train tracks fixed and bought another train to drive opposite of his Amtrak.

Okay, yes, I have been making some jewelry!  It’s a miracle!  Haha, okay, maybe not so much.  A friend has a wedding on Friday and I’m her emergency jewelry artist.  Hehe.  I’m really happy with the way these earrings turned out.  Now to extend the chain on the necklace and take pretty pictures for the portfolio tomorrow.  I need to clean up my workbench area too… >.<

Pasadena Bead Show is this weekend… need to get ready for that too.  Then the baby shower is next weekend.  After that I can finally get a crib mattress.  We’ve been waiting to see what we get out of the baby shower before buying anything besides a crib.  So, finally starting to get ready for Hui.1′s arrival.  Oh boy…

Adventures in Housewifery

This would be a great name for a blog, but I’m too lazy to start a new one.

Finally made it back home from Georgia.  Today we’re going to visit Jesse’s dad, drop me off at Mom and Dad’s, drop off Jesse.1 at the airport, then have dinner with Mom and Dad.  Not a bad Sunday, if not extra busy.  Oh well, I’ll sleep in the car.  Before we left, we emptied the fridge to pretty much nothing but condiments, 2 onions, and 2 apples.  I woke up around 5:30, dozed off for a bit, then decided to make a market run around 7am.  Not a bad idea and I bought all the stuff we’ll need for the next week or so.  If Jesse wants veggies for dinner, he can go pick some up after work.  I do need to make a Trader Joe’s run, but it’s not urgent.  Just to pick up cereal and more frozen pizza.  I love their margarita pizza on a pastry puff.  OMG, it’s like pizza on a croissant.  So darn good!

Learning how to grocery shop has been an interesting experience.  First rule of thumb is never pay more than $0.99/lb for basic fruits and veggies such as lettuce, roma tomatoes (great for salsa, soups, and sauces), apples, and onions.  Especially onions.  I miss being near a Superior Grocers for their fresh tortilla chips and cheap veggies.  Cooking for Jesse and myself is basically feeding a family of 3 or 4 because his portions are so much bigger than mine and Dad’s.  Once we got onions at 8lbs for $0.99.  When we moved here, a Northgate Market just opened up at the end of the block.  My sister’s husband’s family shops there, so I can say that it’s a good, reliable Mexican market.  As sketchy as Pico Rivera was, I miss the grocery stores.

So there’s a house for sale on the same block as Mom and Dad.  But realistically, we can’t afford it unless some miracle happens.  I wouldn’t mind living so close to them, it would make babysitting and going to work a heck of a lot easier.  It would be funny, because last night I realized that Dad would be the one knocking on my door the most.  Or, if he had a key, he’d let himself in, make a cup of tea, and make himself at home.  Then when Mom goes running around town, he’ll come over and ask what’s for dinner.  Not sure if I like the idea, but it amuses me enough that I wouldn’t mind.  We’ll see if we get a miracle.  Our apartment lease is up in December.

Seriously, sometimes I swear I married another version of my dad.  They both like giant mugs for their tea (Dad stole my pink Starbucks mug because it was the biggest in the house and I bought Jesse a Venti mug for Christmas/housewarming present), they LOVE everything being neat and in its place (uh oh), and they wear mostly the same clothes.  Yes, engineers shop at the same stores for their button down shirts and chinos. /shakes head  One time we left the laundry in the basket and I had to bring Jesse’s work shirts home to iron and Dad thought I was ironing his shirts.  Oops.  That was pretty funny though.