Seven Quick Takes - The 'Fashion' Edition

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1 - I've always prided myself on being a bit of a devil-may-care when it comes to fashion - which means I'm touch and go at a party, let's be honest.  I could show up and look simply smashing, and yet it's equally possible I will arrive in sweatpants.  Okay, maybe not sweatpants.  But I did walk through town yesterday knowingly wearing a shirt with stains down the front of it.  Whatevs.

However - I'm actually really trying to change this.  If you've ever seen my What I Wore Sunday Posts you know I have a theme.  I kinda always look the same.  I also recognize this - I know there's a uniform in my life; knee length A-line skirts, tops from Reitmans, usually with a V-neckline...I get it, I get it.  I did try to sort of break free...once.  And then...I chickened out.  But no more.  I'm determined.  I don't want to get known as a dumpy pastor's wife.  So much so that's I'm using my 'child and husband free' evening and actually going through my closet tonight to make up outfits that stretch me beyond my comfort zone.

2 - Keeping this in mind - my husband took me shopping today.  Like...for clothes.  Not nursing clothes or underwear, which is pretty much all I buy myself these days, but real honest-to-goodness big girl stuff.  Not surprisingly, I had a very difficult time just Picking. Something. Out.  I'm serious; when your personal shopping generally consists of stuff you can bleach plus tube socks, it's remarkably difficult to get beyond that.  Three shirts, two stores, one skirt and a pile of rejects later I emerged with the first real clothing buys in a long time.  It's a start.

3 - Even harder than actually making decisions on what clothes to buy is somehow figuring out how to put things together.  Take this outfit:

www.whatsaybeauty.tumblr.com

I love it.  But honestly, if I had a tea length cream tulle skirt, I would never in a million years think "you know, this would look great with a green wool blazer".  Never.  In a million years.

Or this one:

link

Fun, right?  A bit K. Hepburn.  Never would pair these two together.  I'd be the girl thinking "Right, three piece man's suit.  This needs a hat."  Not. A. Big. Scarf.

4 - While this might make me hopeless, I'm still giving it a shot.  And frankly, some of my outfits are likely to be hideous.  I'm going to come right out and say it - likely to be hideous.  But David is usually a pretty good judge and he'll hopefully stop me from walking out the house with two different shoes and a lampshade on my head.

5 - I've always had this Pinterest style board and now I'm actually adding stuff to it.  Tell me what you think.

6 - After actually deciding to try and improve my fashion abilities a bit, I thought long and hard about where I could best spend money to make the biggest impact on my wardrobe.  Decision?  Shoes and belts.  I'm not kidding.

7 - Suggestions?

Ministry Update - And Prayer Requests

Are you curious how it's all going over here?  Well, it's hectic, interspersed with brief periods of calm.  Much like the beginning of any new chapter of life and the start of any move.  It was like this before each of our moves, and so this is simply a stronger version of that.

Prayers

If you feel as though you want to pray for us, please do!

You can pray...

* For our peace of mind.

* For David's schoolwork to get completed by the end of August.  He has a few papers to write to finish up those courses he took back in June.

* For us to get into Moncton in the next two weeks in order to get a few things done.

* That the children will adjust well as the house slowly empties.  So far we haven't had any problems, but Samuel is talking through the move a lot to himself, so hopefully he's coming to grips with it internally.  When we moved last year from our apt. to this house, he had a rough time.  In fact, he still refers to the apt. as 'our house', and occasionally asks to go back there.

Please also spare a few moments to pray for our friends in ministry.  The H family, off to their first church. The G family, working hard in their second year in ministry and the M family, starting their master's degree.

Good Things!

* In terms of stuff to look forward to at the new church - the congregation has told us the parsonage is looking great, and that's encouraging.  I've managed to find it on G.oogle maps, and have spent waaaaay too much time tooling around the town looking at different buildings and deciding where to take the children walking.

* We're not entirely sure yet what programs the church currently runs, but we're pretty certain that they don't have a Bible study.  So we've found a good (free!) program to use if that turns out to be the case when we get there.

* All decisions that need to be made regarding what furniture is coming with us have been made.  It's nice to be in complete agreement with your spouse over this sort of thing, especially during a stressful period because, let's admit it, this move would be pretty unpleasant if we spent a large portion of it arguing over whether we take the ugly green chair.  (We are.)

* I've been very frugal with grocery money over the past few weeks, and as a result we're 'eating down the pantry' pretty effectively.

* The car is almost ready for its long trip.  The battery has been changed, fluid levels checked, car washed and detailed all the way down to scrubbing the floor mats, and the spare checked.  We seem to have a slow leak in one of the tires, so we need to get that fixed, but otherwise we're looking fairly decent.  One of the two carseats has been taken apart and washed - the other still needs the same treatment.

Cloth Diapers ARE An Option To Combat Poverty

I was brushing my teeth this morning, going over my to-do list for the day, which coincidentally included washing a load of diapers, before coming downstairs and checking F.acebook.  And there was this article.  I'm a big girl, I know what's going to get me all riled up, and I knew I could just not read it, you know?  But I did anyway.

I'm so frustrated with the endless commentary  on diaper shortages by whomever is talking about poverty marginalization.  Because this is a very real problem for a lot of people, and the solution is so simple, so painless, and no one considers it.  The answer is cloth diapers.

And yet we get quotes like:

"Cloth diapers aren’t an option for many poor women, who don’t have easy access to washers and dryers. Many laundromats don’t allow diapers to be washed in their machines and, even when they do, the cost of frequent washes can be more than the mother can afford." (link).

And while it may very well be true that low-income families cannot afford frequent laundromat trips, it simply isn't true that you need to consider cloth diapering in such a confined way.  Here's another article that implies cloth diapers are impractical because of no washer access.

I feel as though an equivalent problem would be to say 'I need to send my child to school.  But there are no buses and it's too far to walk.'  So, do you not send your child to school?  Of course not, you problem solve.  Can you get a second hand bike?  Is there a carpool?  Etc.  Saying 'I'm too poor to buy diapers and I can't access a laundromat' is exactly the same kind of problem.  I'm just going to very quickly dispel a few diaper myths right now.

1) Cloth diapers are too expensive.

They are many things, but they are certainly not this.  I absolutely 100% assure you that you can cloth diaper very very inexpensively, possibly even for free.  Because cloth diapers are fabric.  And you know what else is fabric?  PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING.  Which means that that flannel crib sheet?  That's diapers.  Those receiving blankets?  Diapers.  The pack of dish towels in the kitchen?  Those are so diapers.  90% of my flat diapers are what the delicate among us would term as 'repurposed'.  They're dish towels, receiving blankets, whatever.  You can buy them at the thrift store, for heaven sakes.  My thrift store has a $10 bag sale where you can fill a garbage bag for $10.  Do you know how many 'repurposed' diapers you can shove in a garbage bag?

2)  Cloth diapers require a washing machine to wash.

Wrong.  Oh so wrong.  I've hand-washed my diapers several times, including a period of time when we didn't own a washing machine or a dryer and lived in a second floor apartment.  I did it in the bathtub.  It took maybe 15 minutes a day.  15 MINUTES.  Think I'm weird and no one else would do it?  Check out this.  It's the challenge issued annually by Kim at Dirty Diaper Laundry, a challenge to wash your diapers by hand for one week.  And she's got more info on how to do it on there then you'd ever need.

3)  Cloth diapers require special stuff, like expensive detergents.

Oh my gosh this annoys me so much.  By all means, if you have the funds to buy organic, scent-free, whatever soap and lovingly swish your diapers on delicate and then rinse them 9 times then you go right ahead.  I think you need a hobby, but you go right ahead.  But it isn't necessary.  I've written before on this:

What Makes A Detergent 'Cloth Diaper Safe'

What Does It Mean To 'Sun' A Diaper

What Does It Mean To 'Strip' A Diaper

I have a bottle of 50% off S.unlight detergent on the go right now.  I've used P.urex, T.ide, whatever - and my diapers are fine.  I mean, they've been used on heavy rotation for over three years, so they don't look brand new, but they work great, they aren't all stained and gross, and my babies are clean and dry.

Here are a few other topics I've touched on in the past:

How To Buy Cloth Diapers When Your Budget Is Tight

Here's a look at how my diaper washing routine went over two years ago, when I didn't have a proper clothesline or a dryer.

Here's a post I wrote about sending a toddler who pees a lot to bed in cloth diapers, and also a look at my first real attempt at handwashing.

My point is, there may be factors that prevent you from imagining life with cloth diapers, but the reality is that they fit seamlessly into your day.  They have a comfort and learning curve similar to how long it takes to figure out your kettle.  They don't cost very much at all, or anything, if that's your style.  They are easy to wash and while they certainly dry faster in a dryer, they can be dried almost anywhere.  

Now I'm going to go wash mine.

Things I've Found Out About Our New Area

So, guess what!?  There are Old Order Mennonites living quite close to us, and that means a farmer's market!  I am beyond excited about this.  Desbarats isn't our 'home town', but it's completely manageable in terms of travelling, and it seems as though the market is open into October, which is great news for us.  Also, I've discovered there's a local meat shop, and a honey farm, and even a few alpaca dealers - so my knitting won't be in acrylics only.  Hurrah!

And also, there's a train!  I had scanned maps before, and one of the things I was looking for was a train, since Samuel loves the one that goes through our town so much, but I couldn't see one.  Well, after a closer inspection I found that there are tracks outside of town, and what's more there is a 4-season road that leads to them AND it's only 3.5km from our house, which is totally walkable for the children and me - we regularly do 5km walks together, sometimes more.  I think I'll email VIA Rail and see if I can get the pass-through schedule.

The church sent me some pictures...

Not clear at all, really, but this is the kitchen window.  Have you ever seen such an odd design?  It has a little doorknob to open it, and then it unfolds accordion style.

They're repainting the parsonage for us, white, at my request.  Crisp!  Clean!  Also...combating this little problem:

Tiny, dark, North facing rooms that look out onto pine trees and lilac bush forests.  I think white rooms are our only real option under these circumstances.  The bedroom that will be Clara's is 7'9" by 11'.  Samuel's is 8'6" by 9'.  Tiny little rooms.  We're getting rid of the double bed that Samuel sleeps in right now and putting him back in his toddler bed for the time being.

I have a friend coming by today to visit, and although she doesn't realize it, she's also getting hog tied into child wrangling while I figure out how to take about bookshelves.  Adios.

How I'm Feeling About The 'Big Move'

It's funny, really, how my emotions are all over the place with this upcoming move.

On the one hand...I'm leaving this:

Hills, snow, leaves, beauty.

But I'm going to a place that looks like here
and here

So it's hard to be disappointed or upset about the move, exactly.  Our new home will be a lot more rugged, less agricultural.  More remote, a smaller town (less than 1/4 the size of our current town), and there will be fewer options in many areas of life.  There's one grocery store.  One.  I scroll through the Go.ogle maps of the area and scan for stuff to do...and when I find something I hoard it to myself.  There's a playgroup.  Only one, but it's something.  There's a library.  It has a children's storytime.  I treasure these things - they mean a lack of complete isolation.  Especially in the winter.  It might be impossible to get to the city or even another town in the area once winter really hits for a week or more at a time.  When the hydro goes down, I have no idea how long it will take to get hooked up again.  I really know almost nothing about the area - but I remind myself that I knew nothing at all about rural New Brunswick before I moved here.  I'll learn.

The church is preparing for us to be in the pulpit on the 1st of September - which means that there are only 35 more days until I'm home in the evening, having sat through that first service, probably putting the children to bed right about now, looking forward, no doubt, to an evening full of packing.

Perhaps this sounds ungrateful, but I know myself, and I know that I'll be terribly homesick right then.  Right Now Amy knows 35 Days In The Future Amy so very well, you see.  And so I've already started planning things for those first few difficult weeks.  A few small trips, just the children and me, and some interesting stuff to look forward to.  A trip to Toronto in November, with any luck.  Visitors in December, because we won't be able to travel over Christmas again as long as David is in ministry.  I'm prioritizing the internet - along with hooking up the phone it's the very first thing I'll be doing.

But in the meantime, I'm here.  This is the time when it's almost impossible for me to Be Here.  Be Present.  Be Right Now.  I strain forward and hold on to the past with a death grip.  Neither is healthy.  So if you're looking for me, I'll be in the basement, packing, and simultaneously really happy and terribly sad.

Family is much more fun than using up all the pepper

Oh my gosh guys I completely sucked at the 7 posts in 7 days challenge.  I got Sunday up, because I thought it started on Sunday, and then on Monday I kept reading all of these posts talking about 'Yay!  First Day of the Challenge!'  and I felt all smug because I'd started it a day EARLY.  Maybe I'd even go an EXTRA day - maybe I'd do eight days and kick the challenge's butt.  Right?  Right?  Who's with me??!!

And then I wrote a post on Monday, and lost my camera so I download the pictures I needed, so Monday's post went up on Tuesday.  Which was also when TUESDAY'S post was supposed to be up, and I think that happened on Wednesday.  And Wednesday ain't got no post at all.  At which point things sort of...fell apart.

Last week we also had company.  David's brother and his family were here.  It was the first time I had an opportunity to meet my youngest nephew, who is almost TWO, and the first time they had seen Clara, who turned one in May.

Immediate friends.

Now that our family has headed off home again, and left us sad at their going, we're in full packing mode once more.  The purging!  The purging!

And one of the things I'm hoping to do in the next week or so is completely clear out my cupboards and food stores.  It's going to be hard.  Not because I'm lacking in imagination, that's not an issue when it comes to me and cooking, but more simply because I get nervous when the food gets low.  When the food gets low the children get cranky and the husband gets a worry wrinkle and the mama starts to talk in a really upbeat voice - and that's not good for anyone.  But I also cannot abide wasting food, and will use up every last bit of it before leaving.  I'm planning on bringing some spices with me, and maybe yeast and baking soda, but other than that - we'll re-buy when we arrive.

For the next two days we'll be eating up everything from the freezer.  Not that there's a lot left.  The big storage freezer is empty, and pretty much everything from the fridge/freezer combo is gone already, but there were a few odds and ends.  This was my status this morning from facebook:

"Trying to figure out how to make a collection of random bits of food turn into 2 days worth of edible meals. Tonight we're doing a cheesy rice sort of thing, with rice cooked in chicken broth and the last of a jar of alfredo sauce and shredded cheese. And I'm going to make tuna cakes. And then tomorrow's lunch will be navy beans cooked in cream, pesto and roasted garlic. Supper is wonton wrappers stuffed with the wee little bit of ground beef left, tossed with black bean sauce and garlic scapes. And a slaw of shredded 'whatever is in the vegetable drawer' - a sad looking kholrabi, some carrots, um...I have apples..."

I'm optimistic.  But send me ideas all the same.

Tuesday - Because I have to.

I have pretty much no clue what to write about today.  And believe it or not, though you may not SEE it right now (since I've misplaced my camera) I HAVE written a post for Monday, and it WILL go up.  But it needs a picture.

Well, so, um...

We have company coming!  My brother in law (my husband's brother) and his wife and their two children are arriving on their way back from a camping trip and they'll be staying for several days.  I spent my day changing sheets and setting out towels and all of that.  Nothing thrilling.  I have NO meal plan in place.  Let's not talk about it.  My 'plan' is to wake David up reeeeaaaallllly early tomorrow and go shopping.

Clara is taking an antibiotic right now that needs to be given four times a day.  Can I just tell you how difficult it is to remember medication four times a day?  Really difficult.