Downsizing

It seems we're doing a lot of this these days. We are not downsizing our house, it's not that big to begin with, but we are able to start purging some unneeded things, and replace some well worn ones.

I had 2 sets of dishes, a stoneware set that could be microwaved, but were rather cumbersome, and a set of second hand china which was pretty and not as heavy, but could not be microwaved because of the gold edge.

Neither made my heart flutter, they were just functional. We also had a bunch of plastic plates which were getting shabby so I thought that if we switched to Corelle that I could get rid of all but a bit of the plastic and have dishes that I didn't have to worry so much about breaking.

I found the set at right, which perfectly match my kitchen/dining area, and knew I had to have them. My plan was to buy them a set at a time (each set was a place setting for four) until I had 6 sets. While our household is shrinking, our family is growing.

Being a want and not a need, collecting these sets was a long term plan, but my kids had other ideas. I bought one set early in the year, and my Mother's Day gift was another set. I opened the box and while exclaiming over them, heard Rebekah quietly say "the rest are coming."

They had ordered the remaining 5 sets of dishes but the order was split into shipments and only one box had arrived. She said the others would be showing up over the next couple of days.

In actuality, the rest arrived the next day. I had spent Mother's Day evening boxing up my old dishes and cleaning out cabinets. The old dishes took up the better part of two cabinets, I was able to get rid of some other things, too. The cabinets are much less cluttered now. I still feel a little giddy every time I open this door.

The car saga has finally (at least we hope finally) come to a close. It's been over 3 1/2 years since it began, when our van was in need of major work. We got it back just about a year later only to have my husband's work van break down just one week later, leaving him in need of our family van for work.

Our older kids all had cars and we shared and traded as needed, but now two have moved out and the last is away for most of the summer. I'd been pretty down about the whole thing and beyond tired of having to find rides everywhere. I found myself looking at used car sites, trying to figure out how little I could spend and still have a decently reliable vehicle and finally decided that I was toturing myself. The only way I'd be getting a car any time soon was if one fell from the sky.

Two days later, one did.

Some family friends came into possession of an extra vehicle, they shuffled their cars around and the "leftover" one was going to be donated, to us if we wanted it, to a charity if we didn't. For the price of licensing and title transfer (and the obligatory $1 to make it legal), I am now the very proud owner of a 13 year old Plymouth Neon. My husband teasingly refers to it as the Mercedes and I don't mind. To me, it might as well be! Since my vehicle used to be the van, I guess my vehicle has been downsized, too!

The body has a few bumps and dings, the inside is almost like new. Best of all, it runs great, is fun to drive and gives me my life back. Initially when we accepted it (sight unseen) my hope was that it would keep going until such time as we could get my husband a needed work vehicle and figure out what was next for me. I now hope that we can keep it going for a LONG time. It not only is a fun little car, but I feel like it is a reminder that there is an end to trials and difficulties and no matter how dark things seem, at some point the light works its way back in.

Ruthie LOVES the new car and will even come along for the ride if all I'm doing it going through the drive through at the bank.

She's also starting to enjoy a bit of independence. She's tall enough to open the screen door to go out by herself and figured out how to get back in on her own, too. She will often go out and sit on the porch and blow bubbles while watching the world go by.

She uses this little chair to open the door, or reach further on this table. In the kitchen she will stand in my basket of towels to reach on the counters. She's a resourceful little thing, and thankfully not too mischievous!

You may have noticed no mention of quilting so far. That isn't because I've not been doing any, in fact, I've been quite busy. The problem is my camera batteries have died and I can't get pictures of what I've been working on. Grocery day will find me with new batteries and quilting updates will soon follow.

Rachel is home for a few days, she leaves for camp again Sunday morning. Tonight she is at Marshall's parents' house for dinner and some of the evening, but we'll be watching Say Yes to the Dress shows and scoping out both wedding and bridesmaids dresses while being entertained. Until then, I'm watching baseball and hand quilting, tonight or tomorrow I should be finished with the current project.

More to come soon! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.

Happy Quilting!

Sue