Scenes from work at home Monday

Halloween Owl Change Purses in progress

The boys playing on the rocks, just before the bleeding head wound.

The Princess and Bo Peep on the porch

Laundry on one end, sewing on the other.

PS. Did you remember to enter the giveaway for your own owl pouch? You'll be able to choose a Halloween one if the others don't strike your fancy.

Tutorial: How to make a friendship bracelet

One of the things I've wanted to do on my blog is post a handful of FREE TUTORIALS.  This morning I had the perfect opportunity to write one up. I even took pictures! 
Step 1: Make sure the house is clean.




And the dishes are done





Step 2:
Go back in time to 1995 and haul out your special edition Beauty and the Beast cup from Burger King. And some thread. Be very impressed when the Bug calls it thread, and not string or rope.





Step 3:
Crank up some PM Dawn.

Step 3.5:
No, louder than that.

Step 4:
Pin to your leg and start tying.





Step 5:
Tie off and tie onto the Princess, who is squirmy. "Oooohhhh," says the Princess.




Step 6:
Repeat for Bo Peep





Step 7:
Make one for The Bug, who insists he wants one and who will reject it. Wear on your own arm instead.





Along with your Life is Good bracelet and two rubber bands, of course.

Step 8:
Consider starting a second Etsy Shop.

Step 8.5: Or  moving to live on the beach in Cabo, accosting tourists.

Step 9:
Consider writing a note for Mike, asking him to check YES or NO, and folding it into a fancy little rectangle with a pull tab.

Step 10:
Skip note writing in favor of teaching the Princess and Bo Peep how to play M.A.S.H. instead.



*Or 1989, which is the last time I remember making them.**
**Though the process is awfully similar to hair wraps, which I definately was making in 1993.



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Random Friday: Late again.

• Who turned on the Fall switch this morning?
• I get the Martha Stewart Craft of the Day email every day. I can not tell you how many times I see a cool idea on Pinterest and THEN it shows up on MS a week or two later.
• I'm still doing the 21 Day Challenge, but I haven't been taking photographs. I'm really glad I'm doing it because it's really opened my eyes up to more options in my closet and to what I should be looking for to fill spots. Also, it seems like many of us have this shirt.
• The Pirate is suddenly undergoing a bit of separation anxiety. Yes, the 6 year old. I suspect it has to do with school, but he is incredibly paranoid that I am going to leave him behind somewhere. If I am in the garage for 5 minutes he will check on me 10 times, no exaggeration. If I take the garbage out he will come stand on the sidewalk to make sure I come back. He can no longer fall asleep in his room, he has to come sleep near us. It is crazy making. I wonder what happened to make him nervous.
• My absolutely perfect work at home job is ending in two weeks, a layoff of sorts. I'm scrounging for things to bring in a little income, so expect more sewing posts.
• Starting next week we'll have a little friend staying with us part-time. This will provide a tiny bit of income, but more importantly it will give the Bug someone to play with.
• On Friday I heard the Pirate reading a book outloud to the Bug on the way to school. Awww.
• We've decided to give up the storage unit, which means alllllllll our crap will be in this apartment soon. I've been sorting and selling and donating even more stuff. A few more moves and we'll be able to comfortably live in a one room cabin, I think.
• Preparations for a birthday party are underway, just as soon as I get off this chair.

What I read this week:

• I picked up Divergent again and go sucked way in.
• What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss was a nice little romance. About halfway through I noticed that the cover said "Larger Print" all over it. Yay for Larger Print!

Preparing for baby, part 1, work.

It seems like I get asked a half dozen times a day if I'm ready for this baby.  I typically make a joke and laugh, but the answer is really no. I'm about as ready as I'm going to be mentally, but there is just so much to do on an ongoing basis to ever say that yes, I am ready.  I'm at 32 weeks today, so it could realistically be anywhere from 4 weeks (when the Bug arrived) to 9 weeks (counting to 1 week late. I have no idea what this would be like!)

Today's example? Work. We've had a bit of reorganization in my office lately, my assistant and friend left to pursue other options and we hired a new person who will be doing my  job while I'm out. In the very short term, this effectively doubles my work. In the long term, it should even out.  In the context of getting ready for baby- it sucks. This means that every night I need to plan to leave my office in a state that anyone could walk in and pick up where I left off.  I am very bad at accomplishing this. I am extra bad at doing this when the person who will be walking in to take over isn't yet fully trained. I've been making a terrific effort to have my files done and notes left on pending stuff, but it's hard to get into the habit on doing some things that could be left until morning. This is not to say I shouldn't always been doing this anyway, but the sense of urgency is that much greater. As someone pointed out today, I need to leave every night assuming that I won't be back for 6 weeks. 

How do you handle something like this?  It feels incredibly overwhelming to me. What do I tackle first? How do I get it all done? Am I really that far behind? I feel like I'm working every moment I'm at work. I don't spend a ton of time gossiping, I don't venture out of my little office much, I don't stand around chatting with our members (customers/clients), and I take very few personal calls. Do you have any brilliant tips on how to leave your office ready for someone to step in? Let me hear 'em cause I could use the help!

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