bargainmongering

Remember that $10 OFF Kohls coupon I got a summer dress for Norabel with? I got another one.

Apparently they are desperate for my few cents (although this time I spent a whopping $2 - dang, they got me). I nearly stocked up on $5 henleys from the 80%-off rack, but found this beauty irresistible:



More deals of the day. We ordered a faucet for our clawfoot bathtub. The cheapest one at Lowes was $150 and had to be custom-ordered. No thanks. We tried to check at the ReStore but they were closed two weeks in a row. Then Brett found a gooseneck on Ebay for under $20! Ideally we'd like a barclay to match our sink, but we'll make do with the cheaper version until we have hundreds of dollars to spare.

above: faucet we ordered
below: ideal sink-matching faucet

Oh, and I found a grilling spatula for Brett for nineteen cents. Even though he already picked out his father's day present (a router). I figured he is worth the splurge.

farmer's market

I did not sell anything, but I highly enjoyed having my first booth at farmer's market this morning. Andrea and I wove baskets and I prettified bulletin boards with brightly colored fabric scraps and paint. I really don't care if no one ever buys anything, I am going to do it as often as possible. I love being surrounded and inspired by my fellow cultivators and craftsmen, the spontaneous and casual conversations that swirl together with the live music, and all the delightful smells. Norah joined us and played in the fountain until we dragged her away.

Norah plays in the fountain by the bandshell - photo by Andrea

With Brett gone working at Dominoes, Norah and I went about our play for the afternoon. PB&J for lunch. "Brooming" up our crumbs afterword. Norah played a while with her new airplanes "Did we get this at the garage sale? We DID get this at the garage sale!" ...she is quite familiar with garage sales already, thanks to her mama. Then we watered flowers, and then I thought the weather was hot enough for a certain Flower to put her swimsuit on and play in a bucket of water, while I sat on the front porch with the laptop. As I tried to screen out how happy everyone else is that it's summer, the good things about summer came to mind: Slurpees, snowcones, Italian ice, and ice cream. That last one was in our freezer so I scooped a bowl for the both of us to eat on the front step. Norah was worn out after "swimming" and I am such a good mommy I let her wear her new (garage sale) princess dress for her rest time. And she fell fast asleep, happily ever after (they're the same thing, really).

* * *

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. What I am trying to do is prepare for the worst thing I can imagine: that I don't get to have the big family I always wanted. I so badly want to accept that, but it really means burying my dream. Dying to self. Death hurts.

Accepting thoughts do occasionally occur to me. For instance, I was pondering - what if (buckle your seat belt, my imagination is taking the wheel) there is a person out there somewhere with whom I can connect because God has withheld from me? Just picturing an instance like that in my mind's eye is such a hopeful thing. That could be my eucatastrophe (wiki it).

respect

I have a focus on submitting to authority. I think it is good, right, and necessary, but I have great difficulty DOING it. I generally think that my way is always better than anyone else's way.

How do I teach my daughter how to do something that I cannot properly model myself?

At least there is Grace.

succor

My brother Sol and sister Lauren posted a video on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=950330143675&comments
...and I just love the words, so here they are.

Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
great David's greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed,
his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free;
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.

He comes with succor speedy
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
are precious in his sight.

He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth;
love, joy, and hope, like flowers,
spring in his path to birth.
Before him on the mountains,
shall peace, the herald, go,
and righteousness, in fountains,
from hill to valley flow.

To him shall prayer unceasing
and daily vows ascend;
his kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end.
The tide of time shall never
his covenant remove;
his name shall stand forever;
his name alone is love.

dreaded denim dilemma

I wore out two more pairs of jeans in the last month. Unsalvagable (Read: rips in the thighs). I dreaded the inevitable shopping fiasco.

But no. A miracle instead. In two successive trips to Salvation Army (Owatonna's Wacky Wednesday 1/2 off and Faribault's Thrifty Thursday 1/2 off) I acquire FOUR pairs of comfortable, fashionable, namebrand, FITTING blue jeans for a grand total of $7.

If that doesn't beat all.

in lieu of whitewashing cupboards...

Bathroom and kitchen transformations are immanent. But Brett has had such a haphazard work schedule for the last month that progress is crawling. Moving, yes. Leaping and bounding, no. Every day and night when he is gone at his two jobs, I think of five new things for him to do. Add them to the list. :)

I have found or been given more free things then I ever imagined! I feel positively lavished upon. We are incredibly close to having to give stuff away. Actually, I am donating our overabundance to the youth rummage sale. Holy mackerel - we only just had our own house for two months!

This week I got a $10 OFF Kohl's coupon in the mail, and today I went to browse clearance racks and found an adorable red&white summer dress for Norah (pictured above), and a cool red tank top for myself, and spent $0.96!! Then we stopped at a friend's garage sale:

Norah's summer duds: 11 items for a total of $5

Here is a partial list of bargains we have scored via friend&family, craigslist, thrift stores, clearance, and garage sales:

dining table - futon - couch - sectional - fridge - stove - dishwasher - chest freezer - clawfoot tub - shower halo - tile - paint - rugs - curtains - rods - towel bars - drying racks - baker's rack - recycling bins- file cabinet - linen wardrobe - dresser - bookshelves - chairs - washer/dryer - pole for clothesline - swingset - floorlamps - light fixtures - light bulbs - canning jars - coffee filters - bricks for firepit - laptops - riding lawn mower - flat screen tv - tools - fabric - pillows - plants - and probably a hundred things I am forgetting!

Um, wow. My cup overflows...

bleeding hearts by our porch

spark

I think Norah's biggest love language right now is gifts. I felt a twinge of sorrow at first, because gifts are lowest on my love language scale, but that was of course because my definition was both too narrow and shallow.

The reason it is apparent is because: nearly every plaything, piece of clothing, or food begets her question, "Who gave this to me?" and then a story follows about the person who gave it to her. "Oh, Nana gave this to me!" "This was my birthday present from Lowell!" "Brenda brought me this from China!" "Papa built this for me." My own Precious Gift thus reminds me to consider the importance of giving and receiving.* I want to be like her in my exuberance of thanksgiving.

For my third mother's day, Brett gave me red cookware coinciding with my month to paint the kitchen. Norah got to play with five fluffy 4-week-old kittens. We joined Brett's sister, mother, and grandma for dinner. The day had drizzly, sunny, and windy moments, and I reflected on the great privilege of being a mother, and am so grateful for the legacy I have inherited.

"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much."

-Mother Teresa

*Marketers are cunning as well: Norah distinctly remembers and asks to go to the stores that give her suckers, stickers, or balloons.