Dayan Ha'Emet

You saw the picture of my grandfather from last week's visit to Wimberly. He died yesterday morning. It wasn't a surprise but it's very sad. I don't know yet what else I want to write about this except that I'm very glad I got to see him and that he got to see ND.

Videos from Wimberly

Wimberly

Wow, it's been 10 days since I've written here! A lot of random things I want to touch on but I think I'll spread it over several small entries.

I spent last week in Wimberly, Texas introducing ND to my grandparents. She loves music, this one! She also enjoyed watching TV with my grandfather and hiding in the pantry.

No New Clothes Update: Score!

I got an email yesterday from a friend in Portland asking me if I wanted her to find some clothes for me and mail them out here. I was very grateful for the offer. As it is, I'm considering visiting a Goodwill on the condition that I only buy what I set out to buy before I walk in. No easy task.

But as I explained to my friend, I'm still not convinced that I don't already have what I need buried in my closet.

A while back I bought a very very nice blue skirt that turned out to be too small. I was unable to return it because apparently it was part of a set which I hadn't realized and I didn't have the jacket to return too. (I suppose I paid too much for as it as a result, but it was so long ago, I'm not sure.) For whatever reasons, I've been feeling fairly fit recently and decided to give it a shot.

So this morning it fits! I know this won't always be the case. Probably can't wear it to fancy dinners where I plan to eat a lot, but I certainly can manage it sometimes. I think I'll start using it for things like Shabbat or parent-teacher conferences, and I can downgrade some of my other clothes for that purpose into everyday use.

I just don't want to have to downgrade things that need dry cleaning. I have a few really nice things I could wear to work more often, but they're going to get dirty, and I get to the cleaners about twice a year! Any advice on cleaning woolen skirts on your own?

No New Clothes Update: At Least This is IT...

Update on the Fish Oil Debacle:

U. took our best stuff to the cleaners and learned that it's just plain ruined. I need to throw a lot of it out.

In there is an outfit my mom made for ND... the cute blue and green outfit you see in 11 Things That is now in a big plastic container, SOAKING in white vinegar. After 24 hours I'll rinse it, hand wash it, then try washing again with baking soda.

Then maybe it will be ok.

But I think the rest has to go. We've already thrown out a lot... mostly underwear, socks, a towel I think and two baby blankets (including one with ND's name sewn on it.)

Other casualties:

• My best black work skirt. It was after I bought this skirt this fall that I felt I could go a year without buying new clothes.
• My black denim skirt... another of the clothes I use every week at work.
• Pair of jeans my mom handed down to me. Darn. They were a good fit. At last she gave me more than one pair.
• A tablecloth my mom gave us... beautiful purple... in honor or our new dining room table. Wow, my mom gives us a lot of good stuff! The only comfort with that is for some reason it was wrinkling badly, something she noticed when she was here. Something to do with the special material it was out of that it probably won't lie flat again anyway.
• Two nursing shirts... one that I only wore at home on Shabbat because it wrinkled funny and one that was a little too big in the neck. Maybe this is for the best.
• BOTH my pairs of sweatpants. This is sad. I don't have any others.
• 2 gDiapers. The good news here is that while searching for that link to put on here, I found there are some cheap and used on eBay. Also, I could get some of the new and improved ones. My commitment to not buy new clothes was for me, not for ND.
• 2 nice long sleeve t-shirts, one purple, one green.
• A long and wonderful black vest. Perfect for when I needed more continuity from my top to my bottom half or just a little more black to subdue some other bright color.
• My orange Vancouver shirt... bought on our first visit there when I was FREEZING and we were at the aquarium.
• Also in Vancouver I bought a jacket. This jacket had a liner that could be unzipped and be worn as just a sweatshirt. That sweatshirt/liner is now history.
• A very cute black shirt and a pair of overalls of ND's.

Sigh. Sigh sigh sigh.

I'm still not going to cave just yet to get new things. I might stick to getting used, or not full price or something. Undecided as of yet. In a way, this situation really furthers my cause of reducing my closet use and helping me pinpoint what clothes I really need and want to have, versus complete clutter.

Desmond

After that hard night I'm in no rush to get to bed. Doing this instead:

Which Lost Character Are You?

Created by BuddyTV

Worry

I didn't sleep well last night. Yesterday I received a really frustrating email from a parent in my classroom. Obviously I can't go into details here, but it was filled with totally unjustified accusations.

Thankfully, my team helped me today to go through it. The team here means my assistant, the school psychologist and my supervisor. They're all supporting me completely and we have a plan of action.

But I still felt drained and attacked and even, dare I say it, guilty.

Now, a few weeks back, a parent from the daycare backed into my car. It left a dent, nothing I care about much, but she said she'd pay for it and we really do need to get it fixed. I finally got an estimate which I passed on to her and they really want to charge a LOT to take care of this. More than one and a half grand. I felt so nervous forwarding her the estimate, and she and her husband are shocked by it. They want us to get a new estimate and I'm willing to do it.

I have done absolutely nothing wrong here.

But I feel guilty, and worried.

My mom says guilt is cheap. She's right. But I'm so GOOD at it.

No New Clothes Update: The Fish Oil Adventure

In No New Clothes I wrote about not buying any new clothes for the year. There have been interesting developments:

1. I lost my small gloves. I have big thick huge ones, but it's too hard to use my keys, get out the stroller etc. with those. So I caved and bought a double-pair for $1.49. I probably could have gotten some from Freecycle, but I was RIGHT THERE at Target.

2. And this one is embarrassing... Fish oil. I have discovered that Fish Oil is a wonderful thing. I take it medicinally to help with mood swings. About a week and a half ago, I bought a nice big jar of it. $50 worth, in fact. While getting it out of the car I dropped the jar and it burst on the street. Just like that. I was pretty upset about it, but I also realized there's no point in crying over spilled fish oil. So I was ready to let it go.

However, there was a shirt of Naomi's in the bag with the oil. And a really cute one too. It was green with a v-top and a little white undershirt sewn in. I realized that since it was soaked in fish oil I should probably throw it away, but it was a really cute shirt.

On top of that, my sense of smell has been shot for the past two weeks since I had this cold from which I have not completely recovered yet. So I didn't realize it reeked and tossed it into the wash... with everything else. Two loads worth.

We've washed it over half a dozen times, with soap, vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, Pine Sol etc. So far, not much improvement.

Last summer when we had some major water damage I was actually relieved to get rid of some stuff even though I was upset about some of the loss. Same thing applies here. We've thrown out a lot, including that cute green shirt.

But some of U's best shirts, and my favorite skirt, and a bunch of ND's gDiapers are in there too! I still can't smell a thing, but U' says they still stink and we're not ready to toss them. Think we'll take them to a cleaners next.

I'll let you know if I have to buy any new stuff as a result. So far I'm still resisting. Besides for my pledge, we both HATE shopping.