Eliminate

Well, Howdy!

It turns out that I continue to live and breath. It occurred to me the other day, that if I were going to continue to tell people that I author 5 blogs...that perhaps I should, um...actually blog in them. You see, I live to please and I don't know that I even have anything to say. Not that I don't have anything going on in my life or anything. Christmas was good and a whole lot less stressful than it usually is.

So, how did I manage that? Well, let's see first I eliminated everything that stresses me out. I didn't send out Christmas cards...um, at all this year. I didn't do any holiday baking either (although I will be restocking Mr. Gluten-free's freezer this week with his goodies). I made a few things, but nothing like I normally do. Sheesh, one year I made all the holiday ornaments, wrapping paper, stockings...and it's not that I didn't love, love how it all turned out (because it was fabulous!), I just couldn't do the stress this year. And you know what? Christmas turned out perfect and simple and I was able to enjoy my family and myself and now that it's over, I can stop feeling guilty for everything I wasn't able to do. ;)


What's in store for 2013? You all know I don't believe in New Year's resolutions (I'm more of an improve yourself daily person), but I would like to share what I've learned for 2012:

1. I am my biggest critic. 

I really don't care what you think, I struggle much more with what I think. The beginning of 2012 was really rough and I was really concerned about making it to 2013 myself. I really scared myself (and some other wonderful people who I love) and once I recovered, I knew I had to change my internal dialogue. Instead of thinking, "Why doesn't anyone care how I feel?" I changed it to. "Jessica, seriously, no one cares how you feel."  It may sound a little harsh, but it works and I think I'm better for it. I no longer get caught up with how people should act or feel and practice what I preach and just accept them for who they are. And live my own life. Mine. Not yours. Not my kid's or my man's, just mine. You can't expect other people to ever make you be happy. Nope. Your happiness is entirely up to you, period.

2. Say "I love you" daily.

We cannot foresee the future and no one has a crystal ball. Who is to say that the people who are important in your life might not be there tomorrow? Right, they may not be. My kids hear it from me everyday and my man as well. I don't just say it out of habit either, I mean it. I catch people off guard and when I do, it's okay, they'll get over it ;)

3. You can't make people love you.

Nor would I want to really! I figure if life is meant to be and you were meant to be in it, then it will work itself out like it's supposed to. Love yourself first, the rest will work itself out. I am a huge dork. I love loud socks and converse sneakers. I have a sick sense of humor too. You know what? I'm good with all of this and I can put up with him too. Yep, I think we'll easily last another 9 years ;)

4. Don't take yourself seriously.

Trust me, if I have to laugh at myself. I am really dumb some days too. I know I talk big like I have the answers, but turns out I am pretty clueless and provide endless entertainment for my kids and man with the dumb things I say and do. "Would you turn on the heat seater for me too please?" Cuz, that's how I roll. :P

5. Live for today.

My idea of bliss some days is just getting a nap. I know, I know the idea of "living for today" is to be out adventuring and seeing the world. Hey, I can't help it if I am more interested in reading a book and sleeping in... that's my idea of living. Boring, I know but it makes me happy and when I have a chance to that...you better believe I'm going to take it! ;)

Sew Super!

"Marlin" fishy pillow I made for my boss

I used this little coloring page cutout for the template

He really is nicer than he looks! lol

As you can see, I have actually been sewing stuff in all that "free time" I have (ha!) What can I say, I love to create and make stuff! This first project was for my boss (who moved on to bigger and better things) as a gift. His name is actually Marlin. Yep, I took great fun in razzing him for being named after a Pixar character and decided I should capitalize on it while I could! :)
I started by making an applique out of some black and white felt and some orange over-dyed  material I had all in my stash. I had a coloring page fishy that I traced the outline of for the backer and orange piece then copied all the white lines/eyes free hand to fit. I just affixed all the pieces to the backer (black felt) with a little Aileen's quick dry tacky glue and let it dry. After that I threaded my machine with a little black thread and  used my machine to "draw" in all the black lines.
I found this great blue and orange tye-dye material with matching blue velour for the back to make the pillow and since we sell denim at my job, I recycled a cuff from some jeans and stitched it on as well. I love, love how cute it turned out! My boss loved the velour on the back and marveled that I had "too much time" on my hands. We know better, haha!

Pretty dress for my 7 year old niece

Covered notebook for my 5 year old nephew

Pretty dress for my 10 year old niece

Close-up of the sparkles!

As you know, Fall is the time of making stuff for my adorable nieces and nephew for their respective birthdays and this year was no different! This year's dresses are featuring some awesome recycling on my part too. I usually start with a tank top or t-shirt so, I can get the sizing just right. (These were a $2 clearance find this year) and I am having a love-affair with all things denim currently and so, I wanted to make dresses featuring chambray. I have a huge stash of chambray...um, somewhere. Well, I couldn't actually find it and needed something else...but, what? The local thrift store was a huge help with this in the form of a Ralph Lauren Queen-sized chambray sheet. Score!! I also love elastic belts currently and found some great colored elastic for the belts of these dresses.
My 7 year old niece loves the color red and I was happy to oblige! I had an awesome red batik dotted print that I incorporated in panels in the front and back of the dress for a great pop of color. On her belt I used some awesome flower buttons in black and white and I love how cute it turned out!
My 10 year old niece loves turquoise and green and I had the perfect material in my stash featuring both colors for her dress. I recycled a sparkly belt buckle and made a beautiful bow to attach to the belt on her dress and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! So, so cute!

I made costumes for all my cuties this year!

Yep, even me too!

My daughter (and her best buddy, yep, I made two matching costumes!) wanted to be a bee for Halloween and I needed to come up with a not so little-girl costume...I think I succeed! I found the fluorescent yellow leggings on 60% off clearance and (like $2.50 each, I believe) and I knew I wanted to incorporate some black and gray stripes too and picked up two pairs of knee socks at the dollar store. We picked up two over-sized fluorescent shirts at Michael's (2 for $5) and my daughter and I clipped off the length and the sleeves and just took some black acrylic paint (I wasn't planning on washing them) and painted "bee" stripes on them. I also made some fingerless gloves from recycled shirt sleeves, but you can't see them in the pic. Boo. She has wings on the back that I cut out of sparkly white felt and sewed to the back of the shirts and the antennas are just a headband with silver pipe cleaners and over-sized fluorescent  pom-poms. So cute!

My son wanted to be "Santa" for Halloween (random, I know) and his costume was a snap! That is just a red sweatsuit with white fleece stitched on the cuffs and edges and down the middle, simple and effective. I just made his beard by cutting out a beard shape out of the white fleece and stitching a thin piece of elastic to go over his ears and behind his head. That was it. :)

My little one wanted to be "Link" from The Legend of Zelda series and his costume was pretty easy too. I got a green t-shirt from the Dollar Store for a buck and cut the sleeves and bottom off a bit (it was huge). I recycled the bottom for a collar on top of the shirt (by stitching it on upside down where I cut off the original collar) and cut little holes at the bottom of the "V" I made to threadsome suede cord through to complete the look. I recycled my green robin hood hat for the hat and he wore his own brown belt and pants and borrowed his sister's boots. I used his sword and shield and covered his shield with felt and drew the design from Link's wooden shield on it. I also made him a sheath for his sword on his back. He looked great!

I wasn't planning on dressing up at all this year and when I decided I probably should too, I just ran and purchased an ugly dress from the thrift store and a curtain valance to make an apron out of. I cut up the dress and smeared it and the apron with blood (acrylic paint) and with a little face paint I was a pretty scary "Mombie"...BOO!!

Dr. Pepper purse for my co-worker

Inside lined with chambray

Lastly, I made a great small purse for my co-worker and fellow Dr. Pepper fiend! This was originally a kid sized t-shirt that I recycled into a purse. A little more of the red batik print and the now found stash of chambray (ummm...yeah) for the lining and a coordinating ribbon for the strap and I can't tell you how much I love how this turned out! I totally need one now! :) It was a huge hit for her birthday!

Being gluten-free

Being fully immersed in the GF world (as we are), I spend a lot of time reading various blogs and articles and viewpoints geared toward the "gluten-free lifestyle". Even though it seems the food manufacturers are starting to catch on (improving labeling, using less gluten based fillers and whatnot) it still can be overwhelming if you are new to the scene. Let me give you a little background on why we are GF.

My manpanion Lee had been dealing with a variety of health issues for a number of years. These included: bumps/blisters on the soles of his feet and ankles, stomach-aches, bloating, sharp pains in the side in the middle of the night, bloody stools, chronic conjunctivitis in his eyes. After ruling out many things, including diverticulitis, IBS, and common hayfever, Lee eliminated dairy from his diet. This helped some, but he was still sick. A friend of mine from work had Celiac Disease (celiacs) and after describing his ailments to her, she suggested he try a gluten-free diet. Five years ago, being gluten-free was a lot more difficult than it is today. This was before the FDA required food manufacturers to list common allergens on their products and certain companies practiced the dangerous habit of "ingredient hiding" (Cambell's soup being one of the worst culprits). Company's would name ingredients something else as to hide the fact that they were using gluten-based fillers in their products. It made finding "safe" foods to eat very difficult.

Being the business man and habitual-researcher that he is, Lee spent several hours a week on the phone with various food manufacturers, as well as, the head of the FDA for our region. He turned in food manufacturers to the FDA for hiding dangerous ingredients weekly. Actually, I remember him receiving many coupons from companies like Cambell's for their product. Yep, he used those...not! They didn't make anything he could safely eat!

Fast forward five years to today and it isn't nearly as difficult to navigate the GF world. Look at the labels on your favorite foods and you'll find lists of common allergens listed, such as MILK, WHEAT, SOY. If you are sensitive to these items, you avoid them, simple as that. Lee has also learned through blood tests and a colonoscopy that he has celiacs. His Mom passed away several years ago from complications due to IBS and we suspect she had celiacs as well. Lee was in the late stages of Celiac Disease before he changed his diet. He developed an allergy to dairy and nuts as the result and developed a blood disorder as well. Basically by changing his diet, he elongated his life by several more years (which I couldn't be more grateful for!).

This is my 13 year old son Drake. Drake, besides being extremely intelligent, creative, and sensitive, has Asperger's Syndrome (in the Autism spectrum) and moderate A.D.H.D. Drake is an 8th grader in middle school, plays violin in the orchestra, takes an honors math class, and wants to be a math teacher and principal someday. Drake is not GF. I've read all the research, I've heard countless opinions on GF diets for autistic kids in how it's supposed to help with behavior issues and whatnot. I don't necessarily buy it. We eat GF meals for dinner at my house, but Drake still downs a bowl of cereal for breakfast and usually pizza for lunch (thank-you school lunch program). Do I think it would help him to be completely gluten-free? Not really. I shared this on facebook the other day and I mean it wholeheartedly:

"Autism to me, says that I accept my child wholly. I celebrate his differences and his quirky-ness. I advocate diversity. I am proud of his successes, no matter how small they may be. I hope he holds onto the compassion he has in his heart into adulthood. I don't think he needs "fixing". I am proud that he is my son, and sometimes I am humbled by that very same thought. "

Acceptance is all I ask for my aspie. ♥ He is phenomenal and constantly astounds me with his view of the world. ♥

Drake does not need fixing, he isn't broken. 

I learned that Drake having Asperger's meant I needed to be his biggest advocate. In order for me to be able to accomplish that, I needed to change the way I dealt with him. I had to turn up my patience a full 10 notches with Drake. He won't ever act like any other kid (nor would I want him to). He won't ever answer questions directly, and he may always need a little bit of extra help. With the help of his school guidance counselor, we signed Drake up for a study skills class with a teacher who teaches special ed. and regular classes as well. Drake never has any problem with the work from his classes (he grasps concepts immediately), he just had a little trouble getting all of his assignments turned in, that's where the study skills class comes in. He loves it! 

Full disclosure here, Drake avoids Red Dye. Actually, I have avoided it for most of my adult life as well. Red dye 40 is toxic and has no business being in food. I've watched it make kids maniacal, bouncing off the walls and whatnot. It gives Drake headaches/stomachaches and rashes when he is exposed to it. Drake will tell you, "Does that have red dye? No thanks, I'm sensitive to red dye."  Good boy. :)

Being gluten-free isn't easy. You have to get n the habit of eating clean and healthy. Don't rely on boxes of ready-made mixes claiming they are "gluten-free", you will go bankrupt quickly and you probably won't feel any better. Here are 10 things we keep in the house at all times:

1. Rice (instant or jasmine style as Lee prefers)
2. Beans (S&W has a great variety and clean manufacturing methods, no cross-contamination here!)
   a. Black
   b. Pinto
   c. Chilli 
   d. Kidney
   e. White (I love white beans blended to add thickness to soups and casseroles) 
3. Frozen Chicken Breasts (We love Costco's Kirkland brand)
4. Frozen Ground Turkey (Thank you Jennie-O, for being so GF friendly)
5. Rice Pasta (Trader Joe's still has the best tasting, we buy it in bulk!)
6. Fresh/Frozen Fruit and Vegetables (no risk of Gluten poisoning here)
7. Chex cereal (With about 8 varieties of GF friendly stuff to choose from, no one gets bored!)
8. Corn tortillas (Great substitute for hotdog buns, and oodles of GF style Mexican food)
9. GF vegetable stock (Pacific Natural Foods is still the best, but Kitchen Basics is good too)
10.Potatoes (Red, Russet, or Sweet Potatoes fill you up right)

There are so many things that are gluten-free and don't take any extra effort too, such as:

Popcorn
Lay's brand chips (most varieties, read the label)
Jello
Jello pudding too
Jennie-O turkey dogs
Gogurt
Most brands of yogurt too
Name brand soda (Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, enjoy!)
Skittles

There are also many restaurants that are happy to accommodate GF eaters too:

In and Out Burger (allergy style, wrapped in lettuce burgers, yum!)
Red Robin (featuring Udi's gluten-free buns, just ask!)
McDonald's (did you know the big restaurants all fry their fries individually, not with chicken nuggets? Good thing too, they taste pretty good!) 
To name a few
 
You can't be shy and GF, it doesn't work! Ask to read the ingredients if you're not sure. Tell them you have celiacs, chances are they know someone who has it too. We have never had anyone be rude or not willing to accommodate us.   

Being gluten-free is not a fad diet or passing faze. Being gluten-free takes enormous patience, planning, and lifestyle change. Being gluten-free will keep Lee around longer for us to love. Being gluten-free is a lifestyle, embrace it fully. :)

Oh yeah, I promised to share my favorite GF Pasta Bean Salad! Here goes:

GF Pasta Bean Salad

2 to 3 cups GF cooked rice pasta (Trader Joe's is still the best)
Half a bag of baby carrots (sliced)
One leek (chopped) or half an onion (chopped) and two celery stalks (chopped)
1 can Kidney beans (S&W), rinsed
1 can Garbanzo beans (S&W), rinsed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pinto bean seasoning
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins is GF)
Enough Italian dressing to moisten the pasta (I have light and zesty italian dressing with olive oil, it's dairy-free too!)
(optional) 1 can black olives (chopped)

 Stir all ingredients together and douse it in Italian dressing. Cover and let sit refrigerated for 1 hour. Serve.

Reflection

I want each of my friends to know that I respect and support them in all that they do. I miss all the friends/family I don't get to see everyday and think of, pray for (when asked), and wish nothing but happiness for all. What do I ask in return? Nothing. Nothing, but show the same respect to me in return. I've learned that not all of you are able to reflect my nonjudgmental, supportive, respectful attitude I have toward all and that is really a shame. I am fully aware that you are all entitled to your opinions and even to your opinions regarding me, my actions, my parenting skills, my clothes and whatnot...that is your right. I just want everyone to know that if they cannot keep those opinions that are destructive, critical, judgmental, pious to themselves, then I respectfully ask you to no longer include me as a "friend."

Sounds like one of those stupid copy and paste facebook statuses, huh? It took soooo much self-restraint last week for me not to post this as my status and fearing it would be dismissed as a stupid "copy and paste" status and be largely ignored by my 513? FB friends. Um, yeah. So, what's up? Remember all those posts I used to write about being nonjudgmental, respectful, supportive? Well, I really am like that in real life. No fronting for internet purposes here folks, I'm straight up fo' sho'! ;) Even if I don't share your beliefs or skin color or sexual orientation or viewpoint, I will not judge you and support whatever it is you believe or do. No explanations necessary. Know what I don't appreciate? When I am questioned for what I believe or think or do. I know I'm a decent person. I care deeply for people. I want to try to be better. I am raising my kids to be decent human beings. I don't need anyone in my life that can't be supportive of me as I am of them. Period.

ShE's NoT yOuR aVeRaGe Mother's Day

J. Lamb 2012

Okay blogger, I give. You refuse to let my upload pictures to anyplace, save for inside my posts. I get it, you've become difficult to work with. I have a picture here above to use for my title, but NOOOOO you have to be difficult. Fine. I'll just have to deal with it (and maybe pout just a tad).

So, what do NoT sO aVeRaGe MoM's do for Mother's Day? Well, I don't know about you, but I made my family come with me to take pictures. I followed people around and pointed out things I wanted to be cleaned as well.

I did a little leisurely shopping (sans kids). And then, I insisted upon making my family dinner. Eh, what can I say? It's all about Mom on Mother's Day, right? Well, Mom is happy when she gets to make dinner and it was darn good too. Lol.

Chicken Spinach and Garlic Soup (GF and Dairy-free of course)

2 cans reduced sodium white beans (I use S&W brand)

2 cups baby spinach (rinsed and drained)

1 can chicken

3 cloves garlic

1 qt Free Range Chicken Broth (Pacific Natural Foods brand)

1 teaspoon rosemary

2 teaspoons Worcestershire (Lea and Perrins)

 1/2 red onion (minced)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon curry


Heat oil on medium heat in your big soup pot and add onion and canned chicken . Stir occasionally. Add beans, garlic, spinach, rosemary, curry,  and about 1/2 of the chicken broth to blender. Blend well. Add blended mixture into your pot and stir to mix. Add more chicken broth if too thick and Worcestershire. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes.


Full disclosure here, I did add some leftover rice and beans to this as well and it was so yummy good! The kids were taken aback as to how green it was, but no one complained about eating so much spinach! Ha-ha!

Everyone cooperated, no one complained, and no one bickered all day. Sounds like a perfect Mother's Day to me! Hope yours was great too! ;)

So you sew?

Look at the darling baby maxi-dress I made for my little niece! Oh, and the cutie chihuahua photo bomber!

I have a childhood friend who is battling breast cancer and I made and sent this out too....

My cousin is expecting her first baby and I made this for her little one...

I also made a fun present for a friend who had recently had surgery...

So here's the haps (in case you were wondering):

I have been busy. Bleh. Not the good kind of busy where you are literally drowning in wonderful projects and people and happy thoughts with butterflies and kisses....Nope. I have been the kind of busy that pisses you off and wears you down and chokes you out with the monotony of the mundane everyday life that is really inescapable as a responsible adult. (Wow, that was a sunny thought! :P)

I have been able to sneak in a little crafty-sewy time in between all that mundane monotony of the 30 something adult with kids. (Refer to the pictures I was able to successfully upload above) Which is definitely a good thing. :)

In February I was hit with right hook of that little monster called depression. Actually, it has been looming about for a few months now and even though it is mostly manageable, sometimes it gets a bit out of hand. Maybe a lot out of hand would be more appropriate. People don't understand why you just can't be happy. Heck, I can't understand why I just can't be happy. I have a great life, a job, fantastic kids, a roof over my head, someone warm to come home to at night...I SHOULD be happy. No worries folks, I am okay. A little reflection, a little taking a step back, a lot of talking it out, and a little medication have helped.
You see, I noticed that I didn't want to do anything I normally enjoy. My blogs have all been neglected, I haven't been anxious to depart on a photo taking expedition, I've barely been on Facebook (tragedy, I know!), and I've barely sewn a thing. Sigh. Yeah, somehow all these things didn't occur to me until I was deep into the murk.

I think we're turning a corner now though. I was actually thinking of writing this post for a few days now and I have a specific location I want to capture on my next photo shoot! Even my friend invited me out a couple of weekends ago to take pictures of her family, which was fun! (and I think most of them turned out...eeek!) I also have several sewing projects lined up in the queue...yeah! :D

So, in reality I haven't disappeared or forgotten or abandoned ShE's NoT yOuR aVeRaGe MoM (you were worried,  I know... ;)). It was all an illusion...yeah, let's go with that. ;)

[ Inset photo here ]

I don't necessarily believe in New Year's resolutions. Now don't get me wrong, I can fully appreciate the effort people make in self-improvement that comes with such a notion, I, for one believe in self-improvement in everyday instead. All of this being said, I really wanted to share a little more via blog-world. I really enjoy the ability to share and express myself in this fashion. So, last week I had a little time and went to upload a picture for a post, only to discover I had successfully reached my capacity level in my picasa web album (where your uploaded pics from your blog are stored). Fail. Blame it on my 365 photo blog from last year (2011 and points forward), blame it on my need for visuals with words, blame it on blogger's piss-poor uploader for "losing" my last uploaded pictures...um, constantly, but I need to have pictures with my posts. Sigh.
What to do now though? Purging my album after saving my blog content in it's entirety (thanks to the skills of my ABC Rent-a-Geek and his html writing abilities) would be ideal and of course, a blog book from my 2011 blog would be cool too (and a great b-day present, hint...hint ;)).
For now though? I guess I'll resign myself to reusing already uploaded pictures and web photos and attempt to not be seriously annoyed by it all. Lame.

2012 Here we come!

I trust we all survived the holidays? I did, barely. Ugh. ;0) I thought I'd take a minute to share a few of the things I was able to complete (craftiness involved). The first thing I did was was to make some cloth garland for my Christmas tree. I have used recycled sparkly Christmas ribbons for a few years now and since my colors were chartreuse and red this year, I opted for something a little different. I had several remnants of Christmas themed material that a cut into wide strips (about 4 inches wide). I alternated a red swirl pattern with a vintage poinsettia print with my theme colors. I sewed all the strips together making a a long chain (about 70 feet long). I broke up the pattern by taking a small remnant of red on red snowflake material and tying knots in the middle of each fabric, as well as, the seams where I sewed the colors together. Along with my collection of red and chartreuse ball ornaments (along with some old fashioned green) and chartreuse bead garland and some over sized, old fashioned Christmas lights, the effect was gorgeous! ;0D (See picture below too!)

Christmas skirt this year! ;0) My daughter (being the girly-girl tomboy that she is, ha!) is very into pretty things. Last year I made her this dress and this year we opted for a pretty skirt instead. I picked up a remnant of stretchy velour fabric for like .97 (wow!) and a black embellished t-shirt on clearance at Target for $3. I added two inserts of black and white polka dot to the skirt out of the velour and topped them with black bows (to match the t-shirt). I made a quick head wrap and let her borrow my sparkly black cardigan (which she covets BTW). Such a cutie and look at how grown up she's getting! 

The black and white material on my daughter's skirt made an appearance here as well! This adorable dress was a present for my baby niece! I bought the top at the thrift store for a $1 and love the embroidery detail of the roses on it. I normally make empire-wasted dresses (be cause they are just so stinking cute!), but the detail was way too cute to not save. I opted for a drop-waste dress instead. I attache a skirt of b & w polka dot to the bottom and ran a ribbon and made a bow for the bottom of the shirt. I also made some matching hair bows for her little piggy tails and I love, love how cute this turned out! ;0)

All planned out...

The front of the book

The pages complete

I'm sure I mentioned that my nephew is a car freak and this year I had soooo much fun making his gift. It's a quiet book that he can take to church on Sundays and play with his cars. I actually designed and made this myself and it was so fun! The book opens to four pages flat where a road travels through a neighborhood, to the country, to the forest, and eventually ends up at the beach! It folds up and ties tight with a garage pocket in the door to store cars. I made it out of felt and backed it with a transportation-themed flannel, so if they have some felt board figures, they can be used on the book too. ;0)

~

J. Lamb 2011

I also made some journals (that didn't take a picture of, poo.) and I painted a table for my two older nieces (with a monogrammed "A" for their initials, which I didn't take a picture of either, double poo.). I did snap a picture of a quick painting I did for New Year's of night falling. Not great, but I like the colors. ;0)


I also want to express my thanks to everyone (you know who you are) who helped make this Christmas really special! You are all amazing! I was so taken aback by the generosity of my friends and family and know that I am forever indebted to you all, thank you.

~J. Lamb