Brain Implosion and Other Assorted Goings-On

Brain implosion?? Yes, yes, it's true. I have so much going on in my head these last few weeks that I thought this might actually happen to me. My daughter's first day of pre-K, a craft show, a camping trip, orders at little girl Pearl, extra training for the Delta merger, and more.

Can someone please, please sell me some extra hours of the day? Because the insomnia is great, but it's not quite cutting it. I will pay big bucks, I swear.

All right, let me back up a bit. There is a little something going on for "little girl Pearl", but I cannot jinx it, so suffice it to say that my house needed a major cleaning this week. And I mean MAJOR! If you follow my blog you know that I travel every week, I sew when my daughter is at school, and cook when dinner rolls around in the evening. This does not leave much time for the day-to-day upkeep, let alone the top to bottom sweep that houses require when you have a kid, a black dog, and two adults who have other priorities that don't require picking up a mop.



Luckily for us Augie is not a lab. But he still sheds, I assure you, and those little black hairs along with the dust do create a bit of a mess. So my wonderful "whirlwind cleaner" Mom came over last week to help me focus on the task without being overwhelmed by the monstrosity of our job. I'm seriously not joking. The clutter was everywhere, and it took us the entire day to just finish the upstairs bedrooms and get a start on the living area downstairs. But it gleams, so I thank you Mom because I wouldn't have even known where to start.

My husband finally finished the cubbies in our mudroom storage area so that we could get all the shoes and gear off the floor. This project has been 3 years in the making, and I am so, so relieved it's finished. A place for the mail, car keys, and the detritus of daily life finally have a designated space so they don't wind up on the island in the kitchen. You know what I'm talking about don't you?? The junk mail, bills, etc. always seem to wind up in the kitchen, and I am so hoping this doesn't happen anymore.

And we went camping. Yep, perfect timing. Actually weather-wise it was phenomenal. We went Down East Maine, past Acadia National Park through Machias, Lubec, and Cutler. We saw seals, porpoises, eagles, sea birds, beautiful scenery, and lots of Maine coast. What a great time, and we are looking forward to going again.


This was taken as the moon was rising over our campground spot, right on the headland in Milbridge.


Seal in Reversing Falls in Cobscook Bay


View from Boot Cove trail




A black dog on a black beach


View from Hamilton Cove


West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine
The Easternmost point in the U.S.


Lobster traps in Jonesport, Maine


A gear laden girl


All tuckered out

So yes, we had a great trip, but I had 300 emails waiting for me upon my return to the world of high speed. And all the camping gear added to our clutter-filled mudroom. But as everything was out it was a great chance for us to get organized, and now our house is clean. For at least 5 minutes.

Sorry to be so cryptic in this post, but just keep your fingers crossed for me, and as soon as I can I'll let you know what's happening.

From Detroit,
~Melissa

Adventures with a little girl...

A little disclaimer, this has nothing whatsoever to do with sewing, and everything to do with hitting the reset button on our lives.



My husband, daughter and I took a little trip this past week, and I just had to write a little something about it. We decided to do a camping trip through some of the National Parks in Southern Utah, and it was totally extraordinary. Being from New England we are used to feeling surrounded by forest, lakes, and trees, but the country out there is like nothing I had ever experienced. Sure, I've been to Vegas, Phoenix and the like, but the transition from one landscape to the next is so abrupt in that corner of the state it's just very exciting.



So we started our trip in Zion National Park where the order of the day is soaring sandstone canyon walls and steep, heart attack inducing cliffs. My child hiked 8 miles that day (not all at once!), and as you can imagine slept like a champion in the tent. We would've loved to go up the canyon, but you have to get your feet wet, and the weather was still a bit chilly.



The following day we headed to Bryce Canyon where we had thankfully given ourselves a night inside after two nights in the tent. Bryce is at 8000 feet, and it was COLD! In fact, it snowed that night, and I got some great shots of all the hoodoo rock formations in the canyon the following morning. At this point in our trip it seemed as though the weather was really going to get worse, and we toyed with the idea of heading south to the Nevada border. But, no, not us hardy souls. And in fact, I'm so glad we didn't because we would've missed one of the highlights of the trip. So on to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and some of the coolest, narrowest slot canyons I've ever been in.



Spooky Gulch, in the Escalante area, is a small gulch that is known for its accessibility, and narrowness. Honestly, we are not small people, but had we been much wider we would not have made it through the maze of rock. It is about 15" wide at its narrowest, but to be frank, that goes on for a long time. I think the canyon itself is only about 1/2 mile long, but it feels so much longer! Our daughter had no problem racing ahead, a serious problem for us of course, because you really can't see around the next bend, and she was soon unseen.



All's well though, and my husband eventually caught up to her and helped her over the harder spots. I thought I'd feel a little claustrophobic, but the canyon was so awe inspiring, that I loved every second of it.

The next two nights were very cold, down into the low 20's, but we still had an amazing time. The last day of our trip we decided to drive the Burr Trail from Capitol Reef National Park back to our campground in one big loop. We saw a few arches, the "Waterpocket Fold", which is a geologic feature in Capitol Reef that is too strange for words, and picnicked overlooking the Fold and the Henrie mountains.






I'd highly recommend any of the places we went for kids. There are tons of small, rewarding hikes to do, and that's all they really need to be entertained anyway. A few rocks, a whole lot of dirt, and you're on your way.

But I admit, my own bed never looked so good...