Sunday morning daybook

I always enjoy reading Elizabeth's daybook posts,

so I thought I'd do my own this morning.

I stayed up waay too late last night 

working on a post for a finished quilt.

(Those things take a long time, ya'll!

I've already invested over 4 1/2 hours,

and I still need to add the pictures.)

When I woke up this morning, 

I wasn't feeling real great,

plus - sleeeepy! - 

so I stayed in bed.

I always feel badly about missing church,

(and I hate to miss out on sitting next to my man!)

but honestly,

sometimes I have really great worship sessions

at home 

all by my lonesome.

On to the daybook...

Outside my window:

Things are looking a little rough around here.

Landscaping is not high on the list right now.

But - we do have a beautiful crepe mrytle in the front yard,

and an amazing house

growing in the back.

Listening to:

Not much.

The clicking of the ceiling fan.

I've turned off the air conditioner

(we only have window units, and in our room, 

it's right by my head when I sit on the bed.

I get so tired of the constant noise,

that if it's not too hot,

I just turn the air off while I sit here with the computer.)

Now, there is a train rumbling by.

Clothing myself in:

a skirt (black, with big flowers down the center of the front and back) 

and a tank top (pink)

Pretty much my summer uniform.

Pondering:

Shoot - things are so scattered in my mind right now,

nothing stays there long enough to actually ponder.

That's not really a good place to be...

Carefully cultivating rhythm:

Umm.

This isn't happening either,

although it will have to very soon.

The calendar is yelling at me that it is almost time to start school.

Creating by hand:

Well.

I've just finished 2 quilts,

and another graduation zip pouch,

and my hands are staying quite busy building a house.

I knew that we'd have 70 to 100 thousand dollars of sweat equity

in the house

by the time it's finished,

I just hadn't anticipated that so much of that sweat

would be mine.

Reading:

Not really anything,

although this week, 

I'll be reading curriculum catalogs.

I've snuck in 2 kindle books this summer,

and both have been enjoyable.

The second one,

I read in 20 - 30 minute snatches of time

while getting my mile in.

The kids have read quite a bit this summer.

Brandon took care of signing them up for the library's reading program,

and they all read enough books to get their name in one.

That's always fun!

Lexi's reading has improved so much!

She had the mindset

 that 

unless in was in her 'reading lesson book',

she couldn't read.

But she doesn't think that anymore.

Learning Lessons in:

All things related to building.

I hope I can retain even a portion of all I'm learning.

I had planned to record in great detail,

but

there is just not time for that.

Six weeks ago, 

I had no clue what PEX even looked like.

Today,

I could totally run the water supply in your house

by myself

(with maybe a consultation or two with Tyler or Brandon, or my dad ;-)

Encouraging learning in:

love

and kindness.

Self discipline.

Taking initiative.

And Lexi absolutely must learn to banish the words 

"being mean to me"

from her vocabulary.

Keeping House:

Ugh.

(why did I think a daybook would be such a good idea??)

Not doing real great on that front either.

Crafting in the kitchen:

Oh my goodness,

what was I thinking?!
This is turning into one big confessional.

Nothing special coming out of the kitchen to be sure.

I've been throwing together a lot of one dish meals lately.

Camper Supper

Smoked Sausage and Sauerkraut

but more often, no recipe;

just whatever is in the fridge.

Then top it with cheese.

Or sour cream,

or ketchup and hot sauce...

To be fit and happy:

Happy, I've struggled with a bit lately.

Yes, we are excited to be building our house!

I feel like I've attacked every challenge and responsibility

with a good attitude and willing hands

but this building thing is also hard

and exhausting,

and I am just rather weary.

I am still on my intentional mile-a-day streak.

more often then not, though, 

I'm adding it in at the end of the day,

and I think I did a bit better emotionally

when I forced myself to fit it in early in the day.

I'm not sure if it's the 'exercise' part,

or the 'not hanging over my head' part,

but I need to get back to doing it first(ish) thing.

I'm also going strong on my no wheat or chips or sugar,

except I did have wheat in the fried chicken tender salad 

when we went to Cheddars to celebrate,
and twice
when Tyler lovingly brought food that had contained a little.

I also tried the jalapeno Kettle chips

Josiah talked me into buying. asked me to buy.

But it was a conscious choice, and I only had 4 (very small) chips.

The numbness/ tingling in my hands and arms

is only slightly better,

which is a little disappointing.

Of course, 

I have also stayed off the scale,

but I am quite certain

I haven't lost any weight.

I want to get back to lifting weights.

I really like to lift,

and I like being strong.

(If I can't be thin, at least I can be strong, right?)

I'm not sure how to fit that in.

And I'm always a little worried about bad form : /

Giving thanks:

For the few but faithful men who have poured in to Brandon 

the past few years.

For my dad.

He has been so generous with us

and helped and taught us so much.

It's been completely unexpected

and such a huge blessing!

And for his wife, Jeannie,

because without her blessing and encouragement,

the above wouldn't have happened.

Planning for the week ahead:

Lots of important things to fit in this week.

Like  school planning 

and filling out and turning in homeschool forms.

Buying college books.

Paying for that college,

and turning in some other paperwork

and just getting ready for life to change.

And of course,

working on the house.

We have got to get the porches finished to the point

that we can get the siding put on.

We also have to prep for insulation.

There's of course, much more to do,

but those things are the very top priorities.

The family would also really appreciate it
if I went to the grocery store.

Also - I've got to get that quilt post finished.

Last but not least,
we have a 29th (!) anniversary to celebrate tomorrow.

doors

Dad came down this morning to help get the front and mudroom doors in.

Based on how long the other doors took

and how heavy the front door is,

I expected it would take about 6 hours;

4 for the front 

and 2 for the mudroom.

It only took about 3 hours for both, though

(and it was only in the mid 80's, 

so, 

quite pleasant 

compared to the hundred degrees Bran and I have been working in)

so we worked on the back porch, too,

and finished the decking.

(though by then, 

the temperature had increased quite a bit,

plus

we were in the sun.

So - not so pleasant....)

I've been learning a ton 

through this house-building venture,

and there are lots of things I can do by myself

(install (and wire) a ceiling box, 

drainage plumbing, 

and pretty much anything with Pex

for example)

but I'm not yet ready to install a door.

They seem awfully finicky to me.

You may remember that even though we splurged on the door,

we weren't just crazy about it.

But - it's grown on us,

and after we got it in,

Tyler and Brandon and I all agreed,

it was a really good choice.

(but still a bit fancy for our blood...)

The mudroom entrance.

Now,

that looks exactly like I've always imagined.

out of the blue

Jodi was my very first friend

as an 'adult'.

We were both young moms

with soldier husbands

and we lived just a few miles apart,

on the other side of the world.

It wasn't uncommon for one of us to call the other 

to see what we each had on hand

that we could contribute towards dinner.

Then when our husbands got home from work,

we'd hodge podge it together,

and follow up our shared meal

with a few hands of spades.

We helped each other
celebrate birthdays and holidays,

and our families even went on a few trips together.

We haven't done a great job at keeping in touch over the years.

Neither of us are very good at that,

and there's over a dozen kids between us,

so we've kept pretty well occupied,

but thanks to Facebook,

we've been in contact more lately.

Just before Independence Day,

I was up to my eyeballs

working on a pretty major (for me) commission quilt

(whose deadline was rapidly approaching)

and of course,

we're smack in the middle of building a house

and I got this wild hair 

to make Jodi a quilt.

Now,

I can come up with some crazy ideas,

but when I have a thought that ludicrous,

I generally assume it's not my own,

and I best run with it.

So I sent a quick FB message to one of her daughters

asking what her mom's favorite color was,

and the very next day

I started cutting fabric.

I just *love* a quilt in the sunshine!

We ended up with sick kids on the Fourth of July,
and had to miss out on going to my brother's house,
which was a real bummer,
because it would have been the first time in years
that we've celebrated the holiday with my family,
 - but -
it became 'found time',
and found time is for playing
so I got a free pass to sew with no regrets
and made excellent progress :-)

Except for that one time when I made a couple of mini mini quilts,

I totally miss out on the bandwagons,

and the scrappy trip-around-the-world

was no exception.

I figured that'd be a fun and easy quilt to make,

and it was!

Plus

- hello -

trip around the world??

Totally appropriate.

Since they were all still out, 

I used a lot of the same fabrics

that are in Faith and Freedom,

and then added a bunch more favorite blues from my stash,

including, of course,

some Jenean Morrisons.

only a snippet of that California Dreamin fabric remains. sniff...

I also pulled one special cream fabric from the shelf

-glasses-

as a nod to the fact that

darn it all,

we are both getting old!

I followed the directions

except I cut my strips 3 x 19 instead of 2 1/2 x 15

(although, 18 inches long worked if I was super careful)
and ended up with a 60x75 inch quilt
(before quilting, and a gentle tumble in the washer and dryer)

I used 80 different fabrics,

but instead of being totally scrappy,

I sewed one blue strip on top of two creams,

so that they would create diamonds.

(guess I didn't have diamonds out of my system yet ;-)

It's a fun pattern,

and relatively quick,

and I wouldn't mind revisiting it again in the future.

I wanted to free motion quilt (the same design),

but my machine was being contrary,

so I used my walking foot

which took twice as long
and required a fair amount of wrestling.

I thought briefly about adding some hand quilting,

but everything I came up with would have taken

several hours,

and it is simply too hot

in Arkansas

in July

to hand quilt.

So,

I had to be content with just adding a few stitches to the label.

Because I expect this quilt
to see a ton of use,
I sewed the binding down by machine.
Still not my preference,
but I'm improving with practice.

Jodi once surprised me with a visit,

and now

24 years later,

I am so tickled to surprise her

out of the blue,

with a quilty hug.

Jodi. I love ya!

XO

linking up with MCM at Cooking up Quilts
and Free Motion by the River
and AmandaJean :-)

snippets of Saturday on Sunday

The kids had TKD testing yesterday,

and they all passed.

Yay!!

So,

Lily is a red/black belt (what?!)

Lexi is red,

Jeremiah and Josiah have 5 (I think) midterm stripes on their (black) belts,

and Brandon,

Brandon

is now a 2nd degree black belt!

He is also an official,

full-fledged

certified TaeKwanDo Instructor.

I think that's a pretty crazy awesome accomplishment 

for a 17 yr old young man!

(and UAFS didn't think he qualified for a leadership scholarship. Hmph)

I am so appreciative for all that Mr Townsend

has done with and for him.

He told me last test cycle,

when we were talking about the next one being for the belt,

that it was silly, 

but he was as proud of Brandon as he'd be if he were his own son.

Really though,

he has poured into Brandon more than anyone else has,

besides Tyler and I,

so he should be proud :-)

~

My mom and Bill came down yesterday for testing,

and then took us to lunch at Cheddars to celebrate,

then came back to the house

 and played and visited and shot guns.

So it was a nice afternoon.

:-)

~

Corey and his crew came over to help us move the front door

from the garage to the porch,

so that's one little thing

that can be marked off the list

(of a million other things...)

I love it when our friends share our excitement!

We've actually had a few friends who've expressed some jealously,

which baffles me,

and makes me a little sad.

We've been working towards this for a long time...

You know - when we found this place,

Corey was a realtor.

Even though we were more acquaintances than friends at that point,

we called him instead of the realtor the house was listed with,

so he has been with us from the very beginning

of the journey.

Which made it especially nice to get to give them the tour...

Standing upstairs,

he asked,

"All those years ago, when you first had this dream,

is *this* what you pictured?"

Tyler and I both answered that it's more.

And we feel so grateful.

stepping up

I gotta brag on these kids a minute.

Yesterday was a(nother) full day.

Dinner was late,

as it always is on Tuesdays and Thursdays

due to TaeKwanDo,

so it was past 8 when we finished eating.

Tyler, Brandon, and I needed to work on the back porch after dinner

so I told the kids to clean up the kitchen,

including washing the dishes 

(for some reason, that has to be specified)

and then get to bed.

Lily came out about a half hour later and said,

"We've cleaned the kitchen, 

and I know we're supposed to be going to bed now,

but I just wanted to check and see

if you wanted us to do anything with laundry first."

I have been telling them they have got to step up;

if Mom is out working on the house,

I simply can't do everything inside

that I normally do.

I guess it's finally sinking in.

~

Momma loves you all.

Thanks for stepping up.

people think you just screw a box into a 2x4

but there is a heck of a lot more to it than that.

For starters,

the box for your ceiling fan

will need to be centered on the window,

so you need to find the center,

and mark it,

using a level, to make sure your center line stays straight.

Then, 

you need to measure how far your mark is from the closest board

Two lines away from 6 inches.

(do NOT tell my dad I measured like that)

(it's so much faster than calculating how many 16th or 32nds

 or however the many marks there are on this thing)

Then you have to move your ladder closer to the center nailer

(that's what you call a board that is there

 for the sole purpose of (drywall or soffit) being nailed into)

and hope that that 2x4 running across the porch is straight,

and mark the center of the window there, too.

Because that nailer runs directly down the center of the porch,

and we didn't want to move it

(although, I'm hoping now that this wasn't a bad decision)

we decided to just put our can lights as close to the nailer as possible,

so that the center of the lights and ceiling fans would be 39 1/2 inches

from the OSB on the house.

You see there is nothing above the nailer to attach a light/fan box to.

Poop.

So you'll need to find either a 2x4 or a 2x6

to put there.

If your screws are longer than the depth of your 2 boards put together,

you'll want to angle them slightly;

you don't want any sharp ends up there to poke through wire insulation.

That picture was totally staged.

You can't screw into a board

without applying weight or counter pressure!

Your top board will lift up as soon as the screw hits it,

and you'll have to back the screw out,

and try again.

With two hands.

Then you'll need to screw it into the other nailer 18 inches away.

And add a screw from top to bottom, 

for good measure.

Now that you've got a board securely in place,

you can transfer your center mark.

Using a square ensures it's nice and straight.

Next you'll need to measure out to where you want the center of your fan.

And use a square there, too.

Now,

if you were applying drywall,

or a standard depth ceiling material,

you'd be good to go,

and could now screw in your box.

But we are putting cedar on our porch ceiling,

which is thicker.

Before the kids left for Summer Play Days at church,

Brandon and I did some maths,

and figured out that we needed a sort of shim that was not quite 3/4 of an inch.

So he used the planer 

and made a board that was 22/32nds.

 I cut my shim from that board.

Now that we've got our shim, let's get back at it.

You'll want to be sure you have all of your tools,

because it is really annoying to keep having to get down from your ladder

to grab something you forgot.

If, like us,

you need a shim,

you'll want to screw it in, with just one screw,

Dammit Bobby!

It's hard to hold up a board

and a screw

with one hand.

and remark your lines.

X

marks the spot!

Then unscrew your shim

and climb down off your ladder

and line up the holes in your box

with the lines on your shim.

And your box will be perfectly centered.

:-)

Partially screw in your screws

(shorter ones, 'cause these can't go in angled)

Then take it back to the ceiling

And first screw in your shim,

making sure the screw goes into the same hole,

so that your box ends up in exactly the right spot.

Then completely screw in the pre-screwed screws,

and add a few more screws to your shim.

We don't want a shimmying fan...

And that,

is how you install a box

for a ceiling fixture.