Motherhood Monday Fiction Meme #6 (on Tuesday)

Ever since she met her grandpa Ray, Marissa could remember his favorite saying, “if you like it, I love it.” As a young girl, she had no earthly idea of what it meant but Grandpa Ray would always use it. As Marissa entered her teen years, she thought that phrase had other meanings being that Grandpa Ray was known to be a ladies man, rolling stone, and a few other choice words often uttered by the older church ladies in their big hats whenever Grandpa Ray would be in their presence. None of this truly matterered to Marissa because she just wanted her Grandpa to be happy and he seemed happy when he was with one of his many lady friends.

When Marissaa got married, her Grandpa Ray came to the wedding by himself. Marissa was so happy to see him but truly was amazed that he was flying solo. During the reception, Marissa had an opportunity to dance with her favorite Grandpa. During the dance, she enquired as to his stag status and Grandpa Ray said that the ladies were there to just fill the void that was left after his wife died but none of them had ever fully fit into her shoes. He knew that his lifestyle bothered Marissa’s mom, but he felt that she dind’t fully understand how empty his heart and his house were after having been connected in every sense of the word to the love of his life by marriage for 60 years and having known her for 70 years. He remembered the first time that he laid eyes on her as she was pumping water at the well. She was a small boned lady but she was strong in spirit and she was determined to fill the bucket with water no matter how long it took. He watched her from afar and then sauntered over to offer his assistance and being a 14 year old, he fully knew that she would be in awe of his masculine strength. The truth was that Grandpa Ray wasn’t big in stature at 14 and he struggled to pump the water and Grandma just chuckled to herself but thought he was cute. They continued their friendship for another 6 years until they married.

Marissa had never heard this story and as the tears streaked down her face, Grandpa Ray told her not to cry on her big wedding day but to pray for the beautiful marriage and good times that her grandparents had enjoyed. Marissa knew this was the best advice and thanked her Grandpa. As the song was coming to a close, Marissa had to know what was meant by Grandpa’s favorite saying – if you like it, I love it. Grandpa now had the tears streak down his face as he remembered the first itme that he heard that phrase. After he had worked up a good sweat trying to impress Grandma, he asked her if she liked how much water he had produced and his chest was out like a peacock. Grandma’s response was “if you like it, I love it.” They both chuckled and Marissa kissed her grandpa’s cheeks and whispered she loved him with all her heart and she was so thankful that he was her grandpa.

Heading to the beach!!

We are off to Myrtle Beach for our annual end of summer vacation. Packed lots of crafts and look forward to a restful time. I will pop in here and there, enjoy your week.

Motherhood Monday Fiction Meme #6

I am so honored to host this the 6th Motherhood Monday Fiction Meme writing project! Anonymom is the brainmom of this great writing project and it’s not too late to join us as we sharpen our inner creative fiction writing chops.

So, you are wondering, how do I participate? Use the following prompt to inspire at least 10 minutes of writing. What you write does not have to be a full story; the purpose of this meme is to have fun with the motherhood theme. Don’t worry about editing, just allow yourself to write freely for at least 10 minutes.

Once finished, post your entry on your own blog on Monday with the “Motherhood Monday” and “Fiction” tags, plus post a link back to here, so we can all enjoy your writing. Also, don’t be stingy with your blog love, please visit other Motherhood Monday participants and leave a comment for them and constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.

This week’s prompt is:

“My grandfather/grandpa always used to say.”

You can use the above quote anywhere in your story—beginning, middle or end. Also, any of the characters in your story can say it. Roll up your sleeves, grab a pen/paper or get comfy in your computer chair and start writing and don’t stop for at least 10 minutes! You will have a blast and be amazed at what is hiding beneath the surface.

If you would like to check out what others have written in the past, visit “Motherhood Monday”

Yeah, I finished!!

Okay, it isn’t the prettiest picture (rushing + lighting issues) but I finished my little embroidery project from Crafty Daisies. Yeah!!

I have to find some other designs to work on while I am away next week on a much needed vacation.

Almost all things embroidered!

I tell ya, it seems that everywhere I look there is something that is embroidered! A friend came over the other day with a cute top that I can’t go buy because of my Wardrobe Refashion pledge, so I took a picture of it with the hopes of being inspired. I love the trim and the embroidery.

I went to a huge flea market/yard sale on Saturday. I have been entirely too crazed to blog about it but the Pennysaver put it on and it was a hoot!! My hubby joined us and he is not a thrift/flea/yard kinda guy. Of course, my parents joined us as well so the 6 of us went trolling and I found this adorable bag. The seller had mistakenly left a $20 bill inside of the bag because when she started selling she used the bag to hold her funds. I let her know and she was so grateful that she let me have the bag for free along with some other items for my son. It was handmade in South Africa and I won’t show the back which has a certain diamond company on it and I don’t want to talk about that, blood diamonds, and exploitation.

I also started on the first project from Crafty Daisies. You can’t really see the rest of the design but I traced it on and hope to finish soon.

This is the floss that I scored at the flea market. The same sweet elderly lady also had 5 hoops, tons of scrap pieces, trim, thread, crochet hooks, and zippers. Yes, I took all of those items off of her hands. It was my social duty.

And why I named the post, almost all things embroidered is because of this yarn that was on clearance at Joann’s for $.97. I purchased 4 to add with some of my stash for a scarf. I am not sure if I am going to knit or crochet.

Wednesday Meme #2 – Four Things

Steff at On to Better Things tagged me with the Four Things Meme.

It is cute and fun so I thought I would give it a whirl.

Four jobs that I have had in my life:
1. Yogurt server at TCBY
2. Bartender
3. Legislative Director for Member of US Congress
4. Policy Manager for a nonprofit

Four places that I have lived:
1. New Jersey
2. Florida
3. Washington, DC
4. Maryland

Four Countries that I have been to on vacation:
1. Italy
2. Switzerland
3. I obviously need to travel more

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Thai Chicken and Basil with Thai Ice Tea
2. 5 Cheese Macaroni & Cheese
3. Bacon, bacon, bacon
4. Warm nachos with fresh salsa that has lots of cilantro

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Reunited with my son and my brother
2. Everything else is not as special

Four people that I am tagging:
1. Hidden Art
2. Anonymom
3. The Ghetto Quilter
4. Only Sometimes Clever

Wednesday Meme #1 – Laundry

Karen at Only Sometimes Clever tagged me for a Laundry Meme. I must admit, I had to chuckle because prior to marriage, I was the type of gal that thought it made more sense to buy more undergarments than to do laundry.

Obviously things have changed, jury is still out if it is for the better…

1. In your home, who does the laundry?   I do.
2. Do you sort your laundry?  Why of course.
3. If you sort, how many different color/fabric type groups do you sort it into?  Let’s see, 1) darks (primarily blues and blacks), 2) whites, 3) lights, 4) lighter greens, pinks, reds, & purples (daughter’s wardrobe) and when necessary I wash my fabric for sewing and those are usually smaller loads but they are color sorted.
4. Do you hand wash anything?  Not if I can help it. I will handwash sewing notions if I have picked them up from the thrift store.
5. Are there any articles of clothing that you send out to be cleaned professionally?  Defiinitely.
6. If you have any clothes cleaned professionally, is that drycleaning?  Or regular laundering/pressing?  Hubby’s in suit and ties everyday, so his work clothes all go out to the drycleaner. Usually they are drycleaned but we are thinking of going back to laundering/pressing his shirts but they will still be sent out because he knew prior to marriage, that the iron and I have a love/hate relationship. I have some items (suits, dresses, jackets) that I have drycleaned.
7. At home, what detergent do you use?  Any detergent additives that you regularly use?  I use All’s Free and Clear variety that I can get in the 300 oz. tub from BJ’s for like $11. I also use bleach but after reading some of the participants, I am thinking that vinegar or baking soda sound like some good options. A has sensitive skin and the All works for her so I am sometimes leery of changing detergents.
8. What whiteners/brighteners do you use?  Bleach.
9. Do you use any fabric softeners?  Hubby likes his clothes to not have any static and to smell like the fabric softener sheet.
10. How do you handle stains?  Pray that there aren’t any…okay, I pre-treat/soak in some detergent or bleach/detergent mix, depending on the stain. With the little people, it is usually food, grass or blood.
11. Do you use different water temperatures for your different loads?  Yes, my whites get hot, darks get cold and everything else gets warm. All go through a cold rinse cycle and then an extra rinse.
12. Do you use a tumble dryer, or do you hang your clothes to dry?  Once again, I don’t like to iron and feel that many items do not need ironing and the wrinkles will fall out. I tumble dry just about everything. A has some dresses that I put in for a few minutes and take out and hang the same for hubby with some of his casual golf like t-shirts. I have a few items that are hung but most are thrown in the dryer.
13. In your home, who folds the clothes?  The one who does the laundry, oh yeah that’s moi.
14. Where do you fold your clothes?  (i.e., in the laundry room, at the kitchen table, etc.)  On the couch in the family room or on the couch in the basement while watching tv or being entertained by the little people.
15. Who puts the folded clothes away?  Everyone puts away their own clothes including my 3 yo. I put his hanging items in the closet but he is responsible, just like his sister, for putting away the rest of his items. Hubby puts his clothes away as well, at his own rate. I put away my clothes, towels, sheets, etc.
16. Do you have a certain day of the week you consider ”laundry day”?  I used to do laundry on Mondays..didn’t work. I pretty much do laundry everyday or at least every other day. I try to have it all finished by Saturday night as I do not do it on Sunday.
17. About how many laundry loads do you do per week?  Too many! On average, 8-10, more if I have made some fabric purchases. Of course, the seasons impact the loads as well and having a daughter that has way too many clothes thanks to her Nana and Pop-Pop so she changes more than 1x a day.
18. Do you iron?  I think most know this answer already…I do not choose to iron unless something is very wrinkled. My hubby irons his own items and will iron mine if I have something. I am quicker to iron fabric that is not sewn into something before I will iron our clothes.

There you have it, the Laundry Meme. Karen is so laid back, you can tag if you want, add/subtract questions, isn’t she great. I am going to exercise my option to tag and I will try to tag folks that I haven’t tagged because I have to do another Meme for Steff.

I am going to tag:

1) On to Better Things
2) Muddy Boots
3) Always a Work in Progress
4) 5 Kids and a Dog

Downsizing

I have decided to downsize from 3 blogs to only 2. For the time being, I am making And He Said private and I have moved all of the posts/comments to this blog. There really is no need to parse out my faith from my motherhood/crafts/musings/ramblings/etc. since they are all interwoven into the fabric that is me.

I will continue to share snippets and nuggets of what God’s Word has spoken to me, and I thank you all for caring enough to read about my downsizing.

The sidebar will be updated later as I need to finish making dinner and some curtains.

Tuesday Tote

Finally, I planned and completed a gift!!!! I usually have concepts and the like but don’t actually implement in a timely fashion thus finding myself at some store trying to quickly procure a gift and a card. Our grand niece (is there such a thing) turned 5 and had a party on Saturday. As background, my hubby comes from a large family and he is the 2nd to the youngest so he has nephews and nieces that are my age being that he and I are 9 years apart. The year A was born there were 4 girls born in the family and 3 are great grands whereas A is a grand. Needless to say the cousins all get along quite well but this cousin is one of A’s favorites.

I thought a crayon holder would be cute and a small tote bag to match so she can carry around her goodies. I made the card too but forgot to take a picture.

Motherhood Monday Fiction Meme #5

This week’s writing prompt can be found here.

Before I start, I want to thank Anonymom for her weekly writing prompts and challenges to strengthen and stretch our writing skills. If you haven’t joined in the fun, feel free to jump right in. Also, check out “motherhood monday fiction meme” for other participants.

Grandpa Ray’s Favorite Game

The memories came flooding back to her as she sat on the floor with her twins. After their afternoon nap, Michael and Melanie always wanted Mommy to play the “what’s in your pocket game.” Marissa had played some version of this game with the twins since they were able to sit up independently and now that they were approaching 2, they wanted to know if Mommy ever played the game.

Marissa was taken back to the time when she was about 4 and she first met her grandpa. Grandpa Ray was what many would have called a “rolling stone” because after Marissa’s grandma had died, he was very depressed and found solace with the ladies, so Marissa never met him until she was almost 4. She vaguely remembers coming in from park time with her Daddy and seeing this old man sitting in the kitchen. He smiled when she approached him and he asked Marisa to guess what was in his pocket. Her Mom was smiling so Marissa remembers feeling safe, so she said a purple ball and her Grandpa said that it was round but not purple. Being the smart girl she was, Marissa asked what color was it rather directly and the old man smiled and said she was as direct as her Grandma. This caught Marissa by surprise because she had only seen her Grandma in pictures and her Mom had told her that the quilt on her bed had been made by her Grandma, but Marissa only knew her from the pictures and her Mom’s stories, as she died 4 months before Marissa was born from ovarian cancer.

Marissa asked the old man if he was her Grandpa and he said yes. Immediately she went and gave him a big hug. From that day forward, Grandpa Ray would come over every Sunday and he and Marissa would play “what’s in your pocket” while her Mom made Sunday dinner. This was Marissa’s Sunday routine until she was 14 when her Grandpa Ray passed on to heaven. Marissa never forgot the game and couldn’t wait until she had children of her own so that she could play with them.

The sound of Michael and Melanie shook Marissa from her daydream of Grandpa Ray and she then told her twins about their Great Grandpa Ray and how he and she would always play what’s in your pocket. The twins sat very still as their Mom shared details from her childhood and when she finished, Marissa pulled out the family photo album and showed Michael and Melanie pictures of their Great-grandparents. The twins smiled as only toddlers can at the pictures and it was then that Marissa knew that her Grandparents were smiling too.