The Family Polly Never Knew

As a baby, Pollywog wasn't much of a sleeper. That meant I wasn't much of a sleeper. Now, I'm not talking about the girl having her days and nights mixed up. I'm talking about a baby who took one nap a day and only slept an hour at night and then was up for several more.  

About two months after Polly was born, I was so sleep deprived Marty and I started looking for options, not only for my sanity, but so that we wouldn't have to worry harm might come to our child if I suddenly fell asleep while driving/walking/standing/breathing. And like all amazing solutions that come from necessity, we found Lissa. 

Lissa lived a half mile away and she watched children out of her home. From the time Polly was two months old, every few days, Marty would get up with her at 4 a.m., bring her to Lissa's by 8 a.m. and then go to work. Meanwhile, I'd sleep from 4:01 a.m. until 10 a.m. and then pick up Polly. 

By Polly's first summer, I was freelance writing and Polly spent a bit more time over at Lissa's house. The kids Lissa watched (including her 3 year old daughter and 7 year old son) absolutely doted over my daughter. Polly would crawl over the roughest of boys while they watched television and they would instantly melt. The oldest girl Lissa watched carried Polly around on her hip all summer and I swear that's why Polly didn't learn to walk until she was 13 months old. One of the cutest memories Lissa and I have is these kids coming to me and asking if they could throw Polly's first birthday party. They planned everything, complete with decorations, cake (which they made in Lissa's kitchen) and party games, age appropriate for Baby Polly. 

Lissa watched Polly and Buckaroo until Polly was three and Buck was a year old. By then, we'd moved to a different home and Lissa had opted to get a full-time job. But, we remined friends. About ten years ago, Lissa and her family moved back to Lissa's hometown, Sulphur Springs Texas. 

Last weekend, Lissa's daughter (who remembers Polly and me) invited us to her baby shower. We drove the 100 miles through fog and torrential rain to join them for the festivities. All week Polly asked variations of, "How do you know them?" and "Do you think they will remember me?"  I'd shown Polly Facebook pictures of the family, but she drew a blank. 

"Don't worry, they love you," I assured her. 

When we arrived, Lissa (who I have seen since I've moved to Texas) greeted me and then gushed over Polly. To Polly's credit she was gracious and took it all in stride. Then Lissa's pregnant daughter came over and did the same, sharing her memories of baby Pollywog all those years ago. And if that wasn't enough, Lissa's son--who now has three adorable babies of his own--ran over to Polly like a long lost friend and hugged her telling his memories of that little blond girl who won the hearts of his friends one summer. And finally, Lissa's husband came by to say hello. He sat with Polly and I through a good portion of the party and even had a few stories to share with my daughter. The entire family doted over Big Polly in a similar fashion to the way they treated the little baby all those years earlier. 

When we were leaving I said, "Isn't it kind of fun to find out that you have a whole 'nuther family who absolutely love you?" Polly was a bit overwhelmed from the attention, but I think she also liked hearing about her history from someone other than her parents. 

Buck's Latest Wins

Last weekend, Buckaroo went to Dallas for his first martial arts tournament since we moved here. He'd entered all three competitions. There were about 50 people competing in every event Buckaroo competed in. 

He came in fourth in sparring. However, he was the lowest belt competing. One of the judges took him aside afterwards and told him he personally felt Buck actually had earned a higher medal and to keep showing up. 

Buck came in third place in the "forms" competition. One of the other contestants actually congratulated him before the judges awarded the medals. This contestant was convinced Buckaroo had placed--which he did. When the medals were announced, the contestants were told the second and third place came down to micro-moves and if Buck hadn't turned his head the wrong way, he would have gotten second. (the contestant who congratulated him did not place). 

And finally, in the big competition, weapons, Buckaroo got the gold. Apparently, Buck blew away the competition by a landslide. 

   

And More Critters

Buckaroo pointed out the bats, living in the patch of woods behind our home. "Where?" I asked. "Right there! Can't you hear them?" he replied, pointing to the fifty gazillion winged ratty things flying around by the trees. 

Yep. There they were. 

 

January's Projects.

 I sew because it reminds me of Bonus Mom. 

Here are three of this month's projects. There were a few others, but less significant. 

These were supposed to be Polly's Christmas present. She picked the fabric. I was gone in December, so I made them in January. I'm pleased she wears them all the time. They are made of knit fabric. This will be the very last set of buttonholes I ever make in knit fabric. Ever. As a PSA: nobody should ever put buttonholes in knit fabric. Ever. (they were used for the drawstring).

Incidentally, Buckaroo will be getting a hoodie sweatshirt when the material comes in--I bought the wrong fabric last month. Hopefully it will still be cold enough for him to wear it by the time I finish making it. 

By the way, I don't know what that weird line is in this photos at the bottom left pant leg. Perhaps the interior cuff? At any rate, it isn't there in the finished product. 

While in Phoenix last December, my sister in law picked out some fabric and I made her a table runner. Polly designed it. I brought it to Hope, Arkansas to a lady who does longarm quilting for a living. If you look closely you can see it is quilted. I have mixed feelings about this project.  

Polly designed this baby quilt too. It may not look like it, but it took us hours to come up with this particular design. Every fabric square was deliberately selected to be stationed where it was put in the quilt. She and I are going to a baby shower on Saturday. This is our gift. It took a month for me to make. This was also brought to a lady in Hope for longarm quilting because I feel weird asking Bob to do this for free all the time, even though he lives a mile away.

I like this one quite a bit. However, I'm done quilting for a while. 

 

Coming Up Roses

 

  

Garden Goals

I just got word, there are six of us who have been selected for this year's Master Gardener program. First class is February 2.  

Silly Problems

Well drat! 

The super-fun Coronas invited me to the movies tomorrow night. In a rare case, it is actually a movie I want to see. And in another even more rare case, all of them are going, mainly because they all want to see the movie. There's talk of an afterparty, or at least dinner. 

However, I made plans with the Catholics first. Three of us are cleaning the church at that exact time. I tried to change the church cleaning schedule, but nope. This is what works for their schedule, and it was already on the calendar for the past month when I signed up for this. 

Wishing to be the kind of person who keeps my word, I bowed out of the fun in exchange for my first obligation. But my heart will be at the movies with the cool kids tomorrow night.  

Back to House Hunting

Welp, Marty brought up how nice it would be to have one extra room. Don't I know it. We were spoiled in Mesa. After a cursory search through Tessa's site, I found three that might fit the bill for us and sent them to Marty. 

Once I started rummaging through Tessa's real estate site, it sent her an alert I was looking again. Last time this happened, she instantly called me with her best Realtor voice and asked what I thought of the properties I found and what time should she set up appointments to view them? This time, I saved her the trouble and sent her a text: "I'm looking at houses. I will let you know."

Of the three houses I found, the first was a custom home, much larger than Marty and I need, once the kids move out  in 100 years. It had four bedrooms--all upstairs, a fabulous kitchen and all the space our hearts could want. It also came with a workshop. The price is more than either of us are ready to pay. The house is 45 years old and not going to get any newer. 

The plus side is that this house has a brand-new roof and is North of Interstate 30--which is where I'd prefer to live. The price, though more than I want to pay, is a steal for the neighborhood it is in. It will be perfect for a growing family with better knees than Marty's and mine. The minus side is that all the bedrooms are upstairs. Marty's other minus was that he'd have a five mile commute.  

The second house was slightly larger than the house we have now, but had that fourth bedroom/den. I loved the front porch (squee!) and was north of Interstate 30. The house was 25 years old. It had a fire pit in the backyard. The house was one story. 

The downside was the kitchen wasn't nearly as fabulous as the one I have now (or as fabulous as the first house I showed him) and Marty would still have that 5 mile commute. Also, the walls are all painted garish versions of brown, and not the same garish brown. "Do you really want painters back in your house for weeks on end?" Marty asked as he quickly jumped out of glaring distance. "I'll just paint it myself," I replied. We've decided if the price comes down, Marty's commute be damned, I'll go look at it. 

The third house is behind me in Wake Village. It is seven years old, about the same size as mine and currently backs the woods. However, given how Wake Village is growing, I predict there will be houses behind this place in a couple of years. That's too bad, because the train noise will be much more predominant. The house is two-story, but the master bedroom is downstairs. It is also a three bedroom home (no office). 

The only reason it made the initial cut was the listing said it had an additional living space. I suppose that's true. That living space is a smallish "reading nook" upstairs crammed between the two bedrooms. When Marty and I looked at the pictures again, I estimate that reading nook is about four feet wide. "Why didn't the builder just make the bedrooms two feet longer and forgo this stupid space?" I asked. We didn't really spend too much time reflecting on that because we then realized there was no place in the not-at-all fabulous kitchen for a kitchen table. 

The plus for this house, is that it is newer (newer roof, AC, hot water heater, etc.) and Marty has a half-mile commute to work. The downside, other than the weird floorplan and the price they are asking for this bit o'crazy is it backs the woods where the snakes live. 

There is still the option of adding on to our current house. But I am not ready to explore workers being here for weeks on end. Nor do I want to be stuck with anything that resembles a tacky addition to my house. I want an add-on to be done correctly. For the price it will cost me to get something done "correctly" I might be better off finding that elusive property with the extra space. But it must have a fabulous kitchen.