The First Day of Spring, My New Hammock Pad and a Renewed Sense of Self

Good morning! Happy Thursday and Happy First Day of Spring! Who all ready to see the winter end say yeeeeeaaaah!

Anyway, I had a really good topic today, but it's kind of a bummer, so I decided to save it for a  (literally) rainy day and tell ya'll the story of how I saved $40 and gained a whole new confidence all in one trip to Walmart.

We have a lovely rope hammock. It was a gift from my parents, and a perfect addition to the screened in back porch that made me fall in the love with our home. However, if you've ever sat in a rope hammock for more than 5 minutes in you life, you know they can be slightly uncomfortable. So, I went to my go-to place for all things that may or may not exist (amazon, of course) and searched for a hammock pad. Imagine my surprise to find the only thing that popped up was a thin, water resistant quilt with ties on each end, selling for a whopping $77.

As you know from my last post, we don't have a lot of money. Particularly somewhere in the area of $77 to spend on a thin hammock pad. So, after researching several other sites for something comparable or better, I came up with nothing. After this discouraging discovery, I was about to add the quilt with ties to my amazon cart, but something stopped me. I could figure this out. I don't cook, but I have learned to make a few dishes. I still buy some veggie pouches for V, but I've learned that my homemade avocado-spinach-yogurt-fruit smoothie is her favorite. Chris does not repair, but our washing machine is working again. My point is, we can do more than we think we are capable.

So I took to my other favorite internet source, facebook, to ask my savviest of friends to assist me in ideas of how to pull off a better DIY pad on the cheap. I aimed the question at one girl in particular, Catherine. Catherine and I went to high school together, and she's always been a sweet, sweet girl. And smart. And as we've grown older, I've come to know her as an incredibly handy girl. I mean, this girl has transformed areas of her house on her own for several years, with three kids in tow and now one on the way. But enough about that. She's cool, ok? So anyway, Catherine in all her brilliance came through for me and replied that she would likely use an egg crate mattress pad and a bed sheet. Egg crates?! Why hadn't I thought of that? They're like, the cheapest thing ever. So, determined with this new idea, me and V made the trek to the local Walmart, and investigated our choices.

My two issues were these:
1) I know myself, and this thing WILL get left in the rain at some point. Well enough for a removable washable sheet, but how would I defend the egg crate? Simple, I discovered. A zip up, full coverage waterproof plastic mattress cover.
2) I don't sew. I mean, I can hand sew - but I don't even have the tools and I haven't done it in a long, long time. So, solution number two caught my eye - fabric glue. Permanent, washable. Quick and easy.

Armed with my supplies - $38 worth of egg crate, flat sheet, fabric glue and a waterproof mattress cover, we headed home. I immediately put the baby down for a nap - this was not a project to tackle with a toddler - and got to work. I rolled out the egg crate. I unfolded the king sheet. I did this funny this hop dance while trying to shimmy the egg crate into the waterproof cover. Then I got to work with my glue, to make what I would later call "The World's Largest Pillowcase."

After closely inspecting the glue, I was surprised to find two warnings on the back instead of instructions. "MAY CAUSE NUMBNESS IN UNTREATED AREAS OF SKIN EXPOSED."
 Um, ok.

"THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS AN INGREDIENT SHOWN TO CAUSE CANCER IN CALIFORNIA."

Geez. Fabric glue is serious business. Well I don't live in California, so I don't have to worry about that (cue rimshot here). But seriously, folks, I don't sew.

So me, my smelly fabric glue, and a folded in half king sheet sat on the floor for about an hour, meticulously fashioning our cover. I waited all of 10 minutes for the glue to dry (I'm impatient, ok?!) and shimmied the plastic covered egg crate into my hand made cover. Finally, something I could test.

I took my prototype outside, and then grabbed the baby. She never did go to sleep. I guess she could sense my excitement and desperately wanted to be a part of it. I lay her down on the soft pad and she started giggling with delight. Success! Sure, it needed some trimming, and I still have to find a way to tie it to the four corners so it wouldn't slip around, but it was really quite comfy. I waiting for about 45 minutes for Chris to come home, eager for him to see my brilliance.

He came up the basement way, said his hello to the baby, and then said he wanted to see the porch. He went out there, looked at it, layed down, closed his eyes and said, "It's so small!."

Sigh. He saw the look of disappointment (and let's face it, a little disdain) on my face, and immediately retracted and started complimenting me on my innovation. "I could read a book out here!" "Sure is more comfortable!"

We did ultimately decide to return the egg crate and mattress pad to upgrade to a full size, but still I was proud of myself. My first DIY. Simple, yes, but we have to start somewhere, right?

Happy Thursday Everyone! May all of your spring projects work the way you want them to. And if they don't, congratulations on trying. That's more than I do 99% of the time. (But not anymore!)

Love,
Dominique

The Nature of Contentment

Good morning, ya'll! Happy Friday! I apologize for my lateness this week. It seems to have been one of those weeks that just got away from me.

I had a really good conversation with my mom yesterday. I've noticed that as I get older, our conversations have seemed to shift from a 15 minute phone call where I reveal nothing to an hour long talk that includes such questions as "Should I pay someone to do my taxes?," and "Should we consider taking out a small loan to do some home improvements?"

You know, adult stuff. My parents opinion is of the upmost importance because I consider their lives to be a great success. I grew up the very definition of middle class. We lived in a quiet neighborhood about two blocks away from the Catholic school and church we attended. It was the kind of neighborhood where most of the houses were built sometime in the 60s and 70s, and it went through the cycles of housing the elderly to young families. We always had good name brand food, but we rarely went out to eat. We didn't get brand new cars, but we always had a ride. My dad worked in my grandfather's small business and my mom taught elementary school. In grade school, my summers went spent riding my bike to my various neighborhood friends homes and spending the entire day outside. By the time high school started for me, I was busier with sports, and then when I was 17, I got my very first summer job. Up until a few months ago, I hadn't stopped working since.

My point is, we didn't have a lot of money, but I still had an idyllic childhood. Going into my adulthood, things got considerably harder, as they tend to do. I had to take out loans for my college, and I suffered the consequences of not having someone older telling me to go to class for the first time. I worked all throughout school for my "play money" and at one point was working 30 hours at a minimum wage job, 20 hours at an unpaid internship, and taking 15 hours of classes. I'm not sure how that's physically possible, but for one semester, I did it. Then I graduated and moved to Birmingham, got my first job making $23,000 a year (hands down the most money I had EVER seen) and was truly on my own for the first time ever.

But I was never unhappy. Sure, I was unhappy at specific times, for specific reasons, but overall I was satisfied with how things had played out for me.

Skip to 6 years later, and I'm sitting in a house that I own, from the 70s, in a neighborhood that looks exactly like my parents, with my husband and a baby, a pug and the world's most oddly affectionate cat. I still drive my 1999 civic, our house is definitely dated in some areas, and me and V spend most of days enjoying the various free activities around town. Storytimes, and wagon rides around the neighborhood, and walks in the park.

And I'm so happy. I couldn't ask for anything more. I grew up believing that the important things in life were love and family. I learned to treat people like I want to be treated, and have a generous spirit and heart. To never let the petty things guide my contentment. I think that if my daughter grew up the exact way that I did, she would never be unsatisfied. She may not get a brand new car, and she may not always have the best brand clothes, and she may have to take out loans for her education. Yes, I would love to provide these things for her, but if for some reason we can't, I think she'll be just fine. I was. I am.

Some people would take this blog as a statement of my lack of ambition. I'm very ambitious, just not in the traditional areas that that word is associated with. I work very hard to build a happy life for my family, myself, and my friends. Even if all I can do is be a sympathetic ear or say encouraging words, or, as you often see here, admit my own faults open and honestly for the world to see.

We may never have a lot of money. But that's ok. We have a lot of love. And when I do get to feeling stressed or down, nothing will get you right again like a hot shower and a pint of ice cream.

Happy Friday, everyone! May your weekend be everything you hoped it would. Tonight I'll be lucky enough to celebrate the birthday of one of my best friends in entire world.

Love,
Dominique

My parents, Gerald and Stella

"When young girls are encouraged to explore what they find interesting, they grow up to be interesting women."

I love, love, love this quote. Even better, I love the woman who said it - Amy Poehler. That's right, it wasn't some great historical figure of late, or some wise political figure. It was someone who has chosen to make a living off of her greatest asset - her sense of humor.

I watch my daughter and I wonder what kind of young lady she will develop into. In a few ways, it's already happening. She loves music, and books. She love bright colors and animals. All of these things clearly bring her joy. One of her greatest personality traits is that she is the silliest baby. When she sits in her high chair, she reminds me of animal on the Muppets, chained to his drum set, shaking his head and going nuts.

She loves peek a boo, and patty cake, but always with her own twist. She's already her own person, and I dream about what kinds of things she'll explore as she gets older. Maybe she'll want to be a princess 7 years in a row for halloween, or maybe she'll want to be a dinosaur. Maybe she'll really love ping pong  (boy would her daddy loooove that!) or maybe she'll want to play soccer like me. Maybe she'll be a bookworm with no interest in sports whatsoever. Maybe she'll come inside each day, covered in mud, with no regard to how dirty she is, or maybe she'll be one of those girls who appreciates a clean hand.

I have four nieces. Two sets of siblings, both the precious offspring of my oldest siblings. All of them could not be more different from each other. Over the almost 10 year span of their cumulative lives, I've watched them go through phases, interests, hobbies. I've seen the ones that pass within a few months, and I've seen the ones that stick. I could tell you with almost certainty that my oldest niece will likely grow up to do something with animals. She has that kind of story - the kind I'll be telling strangers at her college graduation. "She's always loved animals. Since she was a toddler."  Her sister is not as easy to predict. She used to love ballet, but now is really into gymnastics. She loves the color purple, and wearing her hair in a bun. But just because she maybe hasn't (or is just now) finding her passion in life, doesn't mean those early interests won't influence her later in life. She's having a blast with what she loves right now, and that's wonderful to witness.

I'm fortunate that I grew up in a house where my parents told us we could be and do whatever we had interest in doing. They doled out countless amounts of money for soccer, basketball, volleyball, football and cheerleading uniforms. They bought expensive band instruments that collected dust after a matter of a few years of use. My mother saved every poetry book I ever wrote in, and still looks at them. She took me to a young authors conference, which was one of the coolest experiences of my youth. She told me stories of my grandfather that I never got to meet, about how he loved to write just like me. About how he stood for what he believed in, and had a way with words. She helped me to mold my passion for writing, even though we all know that a creative field is one of the hardest to find success in. She and my family will always be some of my biggest fans.

So no matter how fleeting I think a sport or a hobby or an interest my own daughter has will be, I will always encourage her to follow it. You never know when something will stick. Who knows? I could be raising the next J.K. Rowling, or female tennis champ. Or I could be raising the next Tina Fey. A mother can dream, right? :)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Love,
Dominique