Fabric Friday and other things I love

I almost missed my chance to get in my fabric of choice this week, I just made it:


This one is from Repro Depot and I just love the color combo.

Other things that I love:

Atomic Ranch Magazine. As an owner of a mid-century ranch (1956) I would love to have some of the furniture I see in this magazine. Also as a testament to the coolness of Portland I heard that they relocated here.

Zappos. If you are looking for shoes, any kind of shoe, you can find it at Zappos. They have free shipping both ways, so you buy some shoes they don't quite work and you can return them free! Plus whenever I have ordered something from them they usually come the same week I order them. Excellent customer service and a great selection.

Ikea. Yes, like many other Portlanders I am so excited that Ikea is coming next year. The stuff is a pain in the butt to put together but it looks so cute once it is. We have an Ikea kitchen and we love it. Right now we visit when we are up visiting the grandparents but that isn't always convenient if you are purchasing a big piece of furniture. The style is fun, the price is right and they have a play area for the kids.

My Broken Leg. Okay this one isn't for everyone but if you have a broken ankle or leg this site is a lifesaver. For others like me who have never broken a bone I had no idea what was going to happen, what the cast is like after you have had it on for 3 weeks, literally forgetting how it feels to walk, and how much physical therapy I get to look forward to. It is a great community of people who all have a lot of extra time to play on the computer.

Bembo's Zoo. If you have kids who are learning their alphabet this site is great. Both of my girls love finding the letters and seeing what animals are made. It is a flash site so if you have dial up it might be a little slow.

Design Sponge. This is an unbelievable collection of everything fabulous in modern design. I just love to visit this site on a daily basis and dream that someday maybe one little corner of my house could be so cool.

My girls

There is one thing that I have missed more than anything else while I have been laid up in bed and that is spending time with my girls. They come to visit me but being little girls they don't have much patience to just hang out with Mama and talk. Cat and I have our cuddle time at night where we read stories and she tells me about her day. But Aly doesn't have the patience for that, sure she will sit with me and we will read books like "Cleo & Casper" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" (she just loves to say "No Pigeon", plus Mo Willems is great). But once we are done reading she gives a quick hug and a few kisses and with a "nigh-nigh mama" she is off to bed. They love seeing me and will visit a few times a day to give little hugs and kisses and then it is off to play.

Then there is the heat, in our non-air conditioned house the only cool places are our bedroom (window AC) or our basement where the play room is, but the basement has 11 steep stairs leading down to it. So for right now I am stuck up here and they are down there.

I miss my girls so much. I miss giving them baths and watching them giggle as they splash each other and put on little soap beards. I miss cuddling up with Aly at night, rubbing her head and singing her lullabies. I miss dancing, marching, skipping, around the basement as we listen to Dan Zanes. I just miss them, everything they are, these two joyous creatures who make my world go round.

I love my husband and am glad that after the kids go to bed he comes and hangs out with me, we watch TV, he tells me what he and kids did, and I reconnect with the family. I know that this is only temporary, I mean hopefully I will at least be crutching around next week. But it is more than just being stuck in bed, your life slows down, you get isolated from life. It is hard to not get a little depressed. But when I do get down, like today, I try to remember the good stuff. I will get better, this is only temporary, and I have a great family who want me to get better even more than I do.

Firsts

One phrase that I had never googled until last week, "broken ankle".  Yet, I have googled that phrase several times since I got set up with my laptop in the bedroom.  I sit here day in and day out trying to keep the swelling down in my ankle.  I prop my leg up on several pillows and try to find a comfortable spot so that I can spend time on the computer.  I have found a whole new community of folks like me stuck with one leg up in the air.  Did you know there is a website called mybrokenleg.com?  Did you know that people make a living creating custom cast covers?

 

I try to stay upbeat and look at the bright side of all of this, I mean how often will I get the chance to just lay around in bed, work from home, and have people wait on me?  Probably never again.  And I am completely fine with that.  I want to me able to just go take a shower.  I want to go out and pull the weeds.  I want to commute for an hour on MAX.  So I am very thankful that this is not a permanent condition.  Before I know it I will be back to my old self, but better.  I want to get in shape again, I used to be in shape.  I also want to really pursue my sewing.  It is something that I enjoy doing, it makes me happy and it allows me to make things for the girls. 

 

One of the strangest things that has come about from all of this is that it has forced me to try and let things go.  I can't control everything in my life.  Life has it's own story to tell and I am fine with letting things go ... for now anyway.

House improvements

Well, since I am stuck in bed I can at least shop online. My most recent purchase of the house is actually for our bedroom. Might as well dress up the room I am hanging out in the most. I put an order in for Flor carpet tiles last night and I can't wait for them to arrive. I love the fact that you can move them around and someone on crutches knocks over her coffee on the carpet that person can just go online and purchase a new tile. I went with a few different textures and patterns to mix it up a bit with one more of a solid as the bulk of the carpet.


We have dark brown furniture in our bedroom, well we still need to get a new dresser, but it will be dark brown to match the bed and nightstands. The paint is a kind of light steely blue and then behind our bed we will be covering the whole wall with fabric, it is a brown to match the bed but it is an unconventional fabric that I picked for the texture, burlap. When we finally get it up I will show you the pictures.

Also S got the first coat of paint up on the house and I love the color. He and a friend will be hopefully finishing up this weekend with another coat and the trim colors. I am so happy to be done with our white house even if I can only enjoy it through pictures.

My right leg

Oooh isn't that an attractive shot? My leg hurts, is wrapped up like the little brother in "A Christmas Story", and smells. I guess the smelly part has to do with the antiseptic they use during surgery. I can smell it but no one else seems to be able to. The girls give my leg kisses in the hopes that their magical powers will heal me so that I can dance with them again. It is such a sweet gesture but it makes me a bit weepy as well.

I have never been laid up like this before and it is such a huge deal for me. It does hinder a bit on our finances since I am the primary bread winner in the family. However, my employer has allowed me to do some work from home. It is really great to work with such a supportive group of people. One of the guys at work even brought me blueberries that his wife picked from their garden for me. They say it is just their way to make up for all of the work I have done for the project. I just hope I get the go ahead to get back to work soon. It looks like only one more week of being stuck at home and then I should be able to go back at least part time.
The girls are adjusting but Cat did have a major break down at the grocery store with my parents today. She couldn't use a car cart and she started crying saying "I want my mama to take care of me now!" When I heard that it broke my heart. I miss playing with them, going for walks around our neighborhood, even trying to get them to stay in their beds at night. S has been great taking on most of the parenting duties 24/7 since the accident. My parents came to help out this weekend which was also nice because they got to hang out with Nana and PopPop who are so much fun, but my girls really wore them out. I think they understand a little more why we are perfectly happy with just two kids.
S was able to get the first coat of paint on the house this weekend, it is called Malanga from Miller Paints and everyone seems to love it. I haven't been out to see it yet but S took pictures and sent them to my email, it is such an improvement over the white on white color scheme the house has had since it was built in 1956. Other exciting news, I was able to find a new sewing table and chair from Craigslist and ebay. I am going to change the fabric (it currently has burgundy naugahyde) on the sewing chair but otherwise I love the style of the two pieces, very danish mid century. So even though I can't get out of bed I can plan my sewing room for when I can finally get off my back. I think I will have S dig out all of my knitting stuff tomorrow so that I have more to do than just watch HGTV, do my work reports, and play on the internet.
I think the best things about being laid up is that it forces me to rest and I am able to catch up on my blog reading. You might hear from me a little more often in the next few weeks.

Break a leg

I have been away from blogland for a little while due to breaking my ankle on Sunday.  I didn't just break my ankle, I pretty much shattered my ankle.  It was something so stupid, I just slipped in our backyard.  My foot remained stable while the rest of my body twisted and fell on top of my foot.  I went to the emergency room around 11:00 on Sunday and was in surgery at 3:00.  I have never broken a major appendage before and it was some of the most intense pain I have ever experienced.  For me it was worse than childbirth (this from someone who had two natural births).  S couldn't remember ever seeing me in so much pain.

So now I lay on bed rest for two weeks.  I started doing work from home on Wednesday afternoon which really makes the time fly by.  I love my HGTV and DIY but they are both getting really old.  I am so happy to have my laptop back to communicate with the outside world.

Today is also a very, very special day.  It is S and my sixth anniversary.  We had a romantic weekend planned, we were getting away from the kids for a few days and had a reservation at a little B&B in the Hood River area.  So we had to put that off for a few weeks.  Instead we are spending the day hanging out in bed, which would be romantic if I was in any mood to get it on, but that's not happening.  So we are planning a big evening of dinner in bed followed by a few movies. 

There are so many ups and downs in a marriage and this is definitely one of the downs, but I love S more than when we were first married.  It is not easy being a stay at home dad and he does it with such grace.  He is there for me whenever I am feeling blue and always seems to know when I need a little romance in my life.  He is a fabulous dad and the girls love him so much.  I can't wait to spend many more years with him.  So even though I am laid up in bed the time we get to spend together talking about the past six years as well as what is in store for the future will be a special time for us. S, Happy Anniversary, I love you!