If you’ve been following my blog at all, then you know that I’ve been a little distracted with some unpleasant family stuff going on. I want to thank each of you for your well wishes and patience as I get myself pulled together.

I received an email today from Zainab Salbi of Women for Women. If you are not familiar with WfW, then check out their website. They do incredible work with women survivors of war. I thought I’d share something inspiring from her message:

 And just the month before, I had the privilege of spending time with Honorata, a woman whom I first met as a participant receiving Women for Women International services in DR Congo and just recently, I met her as a colleague, a hero, and a great teacher in this life.  On her first visit to the United States, Honorata stood in front of more than 800 people and gave her testimony about what she endured during her sexual enslavement in DR Congo, “I was married and was wearing a wedding ring on my finger. They sawed off the ring and, because of that, my finger can no longer function properly. They said I was nobody’s wife and, at the same time, I was the wife of everyone. They called me ‘a meal’. Everybody who was hungry for sex could take me as their meal. After raping me, they would pick up any rag, put it on the end of their rifle, and insert it into me, saying that they were wiping me clean”. These were just some of the things she shared in telling her story. Later on, and in a private conversation with me, she talked about how important it was for her to have the power not to look back, not to have her past paralyze her life, to be able to love more, and speak more, and share more.  Her resilience shows an amazing part of humanity’s strength, courage, and beauty and for her I am incredibly grateful. 

At the close of her message, Zainab shares this poem, by Rumi:

Dance, when you’re broken open
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off
Dance, in the middle of the fighting
Dance, in your blood
Dance, when you’re perfectly free 

I am incredibly grateful for each of you, my readers, who think I actually have something interesting to say. I thank each of you for allowing me to express myself to you. And to feel heard by you!

Have a great 2009!

Hi to all my readers and subscribers! I’m posting to let you know that I’m going to take a break from blogging and from selling my soaps. It’s the worst possible time to take a break, but I just need to take care of my family and myself right now.

Please, if you like my soaps or if you like my blog, sign up for updates. I’ll make sure you receive the next blog post and news of new products or sales.

Hope your holiday preparations are going well! Hope to “talk” to you all really soon!

I started buying Santa Claus today, and I saved a ton of moolah at Toys R Us. I’ll let you in on how you can do it too!

If you have a Toys R Us in your area, check your Sunday paper. Right now they’re putting a coupon for $10 gift card if you make a $75 or more purchase. They have a ton of sales going on, and the gift card is in addition to those sales. One of these sales/promos they have going on is an additional free $10 gift card when you purchase $40 or more in Disney Fairy merchandise.

My daughter just happens to want the new Tinkerbell movie, and likes fairies, so the promotion is perfect for her. This promo is going on through November 8.

So, I spent about $83 on toys for my daughter, most of them on sale, and received $20 in gift cards. I plan to go back this weekend when another coupon for a $10 gift card comes out Sunday’s paper. I’ll use the cards I got today on that purchase and receive another $10 card. I may even buy some more Fairies stuff and get that extra $10 gift card too.

You see where this is going, right? It’s a pain in the patootie to track down the coupons and be all organized, but it’s worth it to save a little dough. Not to mention getting the shopping out of the way before the stores get totally slammed!

Have any other tips for workin’ the promos? Comment here and share your secrets if you dare!

Is it a good thing or a bad thing when you’re forced to start over? That’s where I find myself right now. A little over a week ago I was informed that I would be doing just that: my husband moved out. After I got over the shock of it, I got pretty mad.

Since then, I have been moving from anger to sadness to relief. I think I spend more time feeling relief, even though I’m now charged with finding a job so my husband can stop supporting me. Oh no, don’t worry that I’m taking that lying down; I can hear all of you who have been in a similar situation yelling at your computer monitors now. But I am under a time crunch. For the benefit of my children and myself I’m planning a new career. I’ve never had a career before, and I’m warming up to that word.

My plan is to go ahead and get certified to teach, but do it in science and not art (my undergraduate degree is in Studio Art). In South Carolina, if you are a science teacher then you can pretty much count on finding a job at any moment in time. Plus, I love science. You may have noticed all of my science-laden blog entries and articles.

So, to all of my customers, thank you for your patience in allowing me to catch my breath after the rapid-fire crises last week (my dog got hit by a car the day before my hubby dumped me-it’s okay, she’ll be fine after she rests for two months!). Keep those orders coming, I’ve got education expenses now! I didn’t tell anyone what had happened because I just wasn’t ready. But now I think I’m ready to pretend that I’m have some inspiration to share.

Here is one of my favorite quotes, by the Japanese poet Masahide:

My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon.

I loved this quote long before I met my husband, and at different times have realized the wisdom in it, but now my life is summed up in that one sentence. The moon is shining down on me and my children, and its beauty and majesty far surpasses the feeble barn I built with a man I’ve come to realize I barely knew even though I slept beside him for 12 years.

I leave you with a quote I found a couple of days ago that has already become a favorite. It is by Albert Camus:

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer.

Oh! and one more, by Kahlil Gibran:

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

A recent reader commented on my crocheting post asking how to knit. Well, the truth is I don’t know how to knit. Sometimes I think about learning, but then I remember that I have plenty of crafts and projects to keep me busy.

I have dug up some resources, however, to help those of you who want to knit learn how.

Knittinghelp.com has free knitting how-to videos and a forum. The site looks really friendly and helpful.

I also found a free How to Knit and Crochet Ebook that has a sections on various knitting and crochet stitches with photos.

TheKnittingSite.com also has how-to videos and articles.

When I was learning to crochet I used a Susan Bates book. It was really easy to learn using those instructions, and it even has a version of the instructions for left-handed people. Susan Bates does have a knitting kit also. I haven’t tried it, but when/if I do decide I want to learn I’ll probably use the Susan Bates instructions because they are very clear and straightforward.

If any of you have other sources, please comment below and share!

Free paperless grocery bag pattern at coatsandclark.com

If you’ve been hanging out here lately, you know that I’ve just moved back to South Carolina after almost a year in South Florida. Once upon a time, the upstate of South Carolina was textile country. I remember seeing cotton fields along the sides of the road when I was a kid. That was not so long ago…I’m only 37.

Now, almost all of the textile mills have closed up shop and have been converted into trendy loft apartments for young professionals. My former stepfather used to tell me to buy clothes made in YOU-sah, or U-SA, or USA. I scoffed. The only clothes made in the USA back then were sold at Sears: sturdy, practical clothes. I wanted the latest light cottons from India. You know, the trendy and cheap stuff.

Well, now it’s difficult to get your hands on just about anything made in the United States. After the recent scares over toys made in China, I find myself checking the backs of packages for an item’s country of origin. Oftentimes, if it’s made in China I put it back on the shelf. Partly, I don’t want to expose my family to cheaply made items made with little other than profit in mind. Mostly, though, I think it’s time to get real about where my money goes and how my buying habits affect the future.

I was shopping for yarn one day, and found that many yarns are still made in YOU-sah. Some are made in Canada, which doesn’t seem that terrible. At least I think workers in Canada earn a living wage. The biggest thrill I got was when I noted that Coats and Clark, the makers of (among others) Red Heart and TLC yarns, are still made right here in my home town of Greenvile SC. Hooray! A company that is not bowing to the pressure to make an easy buck. I find my affection for that brand of yarn has grown immensely.

In an effort to grow the US economy, let’s get crocheting (start with this nifty paperless grocery bag–the free pattern is on coatsandclark.com)…or knitting…or tatting…or cat-toy making…or heck, just give a ball or two to the kids and let them tie one another up. You can enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while they try to get the knots undone. It’s patriotic, you know!

WHEW! We have been in our new apartment for just over a week, and we are crawling out from under the piles of boxes. HOORAY!

You may have read my earlier post about my son’s love affair with dinosaurs. Since then I have learned that my son is not alone. I found these dinosaur molds on etsy. I bought them, and I cannot wait for them to arrive.

So, if your boys (or girls!) love them some dinosaurs, keep an eye out for these new products! They’re going to be so awesome, and they’ll be available in time for Christmas! Woo Hoo!

Make that loves, loves LOVES him some dinosaurs! And so, there will be no cute monkey decor in his room. Bummer. I’m thinking that maybe I can do a monkey bathroom…except my daughter HATES monkeys.

I have, however, found some dinosaur decor. And I have a plan. My first item of business is to make a rag quilt from these embroidered dinosaur quilt blocks.

My second item of business is not crying over the cute sock monkey quilt I made for him before he was born *sniff!* that will never be used in his room. I would post a pic of the quilt, but it’s upstairs in his room–and he is asleep. I do NOT bother the boy when he is sleeping; it’s the only time the house is quiet.

My third item of business is dig up some cute vinyl wall decor. I have seen some of generic dinos…but what colors? I haven’t settled on a color scheme. Primary colors? Those might work but are so…primary. Maybe tans and olive greens?

Oh! and completely unrelated to dinosaurs, I bought some fabric to make pillows to match our new (old) couch: a white (yeah, I know, WHITE! With kids! I give it a week, tops.) leather cast-off from my MIL and her husband.

Can you believe this fabric is fake leather? You know, like ultrasuede: soft and comfy, not hot and sticky? I saw it out of the corner of my eye at Wal-Mart and thought it would really dress up an old white leather couch. I’ll post pics after I get the pillows done!

That’s one good thing about moving…the challenge and joy of decorating a new space.

I just received a forwarded email from a good friend. You know, one of those dire warnings or heartwarming stories about angels meeting you at the moment of your death… This one fell into the dire warning category. Apparently, old pancake mix can grow mold and pose quite the health risk.

I actually chuckle about this because I moved last year and found a jar of blackberry jam in my cabinet. It was given to me by my grandmother because she knew that my daughter loves blackberry jam. It was name-brand and unopened. HOWEVER, it’s expiration, or ‘best by’ date? 1995. I kid you not; it was 12 year-old jam.

Now, I come from a family that has made a jar or two of jam in its time, and I know that if it is sealed (and still makes that little SHMOCK! sound when you open it) then no bacteria has invaded the jam and it should still be good. If it had just been me eating the jam, I probably would have gone for it.

But, since it was my daughter’s PB&J, I tossed it. The frugal grump in me was pained to see perfectly good jam go, but the part of me that would rather not win the Worst Mom of the Year Award trashed it willingly.

I still have old stuff in my cabinet, and it always stuns me when I realize how old some of them are. Like spices. It may seem like just yesterday when I bought that tarragon…but the date says it’s 15 years old. I’ll probably never use that tarragon (despite the juicy tip that it can make some kick butt chicken), but I still keep it around. It’s like an old friend.

Only it doesn’t forward viral emails to me.

Well, we’re moving. Again. The second time in a year. But, that’s okay.

I’m looking for some good decor for our new apartment. I’ve found the coolest vinyl wall decals on etsy. My son likes monkeys (and dinosaurs, and dogs, and tigers *oh sigh!*). I like these for my son’s room (click on the image to visit that seller’s etsy store):

A lot of people are doing these decals. They’re a nice alternative to painting. The only problem is that there are so many to choose from it makes my head swim!

Anyone know where I can find some Sock Monkey decals?